BOWL FIX IS SUPER
Next up: Memorial sign approval, water station
LANSDALE » The fix is in, or done, or finished, or however you want to say it.
Drainage repairs are now complete on Lansdale’s skate park, and staff say they’ve seen no recurrence of the drainage issues the project was meant to fix.
“So far, so good. We haven’t had any new stalactites, or stalagmites — whichever ones grow down on the drain there,” said Parks and Recreation Director Karl Lukens.
The borough’s long-discussed skate park adjacent to Fourth Street Park opened in July 2020, but rains the next month revealed a drainage problem requiring part of the main skate bowl be removed for a fix underneath. Council voted in November to authorize the roughly $10,000 repair, and work on the fix began in the first week of December 2020, and Lukens told council’s parks and recreation committee on Jan. 6 that the drainage problem appears to have been solved.
“The other day, when we checked to see if any stalagmites were forming, there weren’t, and the water was not sitting in the pipe any more. So that was a good thing,” he said
Staff are continuing to field feedback on possible designs for a memorial sign at the park that will carry the name of Carl Saldutti, the late parks and rec director who led the park planning process prior to passing away in 2018. Lukens said he’s heard suggestions to honor his predecessor with a plaque on a large boulder or stone near the entrance, and cost could vary depending on the type of material used.
“If it’s bronze, it could be in the thousands of dollars; if it’s aluminum that looks like bronze, we can cut the price down a little bit, if that’s a concern,” he said.
Councilwoman Mary Fuller said she was leaning toward designs that included stone pillars or a gateway arch at the entrance. Lukens said he’d like to have a rough consensus from the committee by their Feb. 3 meeting, to allow enough time to order and install the sign ahead of a tentative April 10 date — Saldutti’s birthday — for a formal naming ceremony.
“I think it would be extra-special to do it then. It’s a good time of year, and I don’t think we have to worry about keeping people out, I think that park is big enough that we can spread them out,” said Lukens.
Fuller added her thanks to a group of skaters who shoveled snow out of the park after a storm in mid-December, and said she was glad to see users taking responsibility for the facility.
Lukens also gave updates on two other discussion items, both related to the park and other parks in the borough’s system. Talks have begun with the North Penn Water Authority on installing water bottle filling stations at several sites, including near the skate park, and Lukens said he’s currently working to nail down exact costs.
“They have agreed to split the costs with us, so right now I’m trying to find a qualified installer for them, so we know exactly what the cost is,” he said.
Early talks by the committee have proposed those filling stations be located at Fourth Street near the skate park, at Whites Road Park, and at Stony Creek or Memorial Parks, Lukens said.
“The other good news with that is, once they are hooked up, there would be no cost for the water: being a member/ owner, they do not charge us for the water,” he said.
Staff’s suggestion is that banner ads could be located on fencing in the lower area of Fourth Street park facing the skate park, inside the Fourth Street pool itself, and on fencing along the Whites Road pool, with banners only up during pool season at the latter two.
Councilman Bill Henning said he was wary at first of the idea of putting banners where neighbors near the skatepark could see them, but reconsidered after visiting the site and seeing where added trees and vegetation have been planted.
Lansdale’s parks and recreation committee next meets at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 3 and full council next meets at 7 p.m. Jan. 20; for more information visit www. Lansdale.org.