The City of Knox Park Department has been planning to rebuild the skate ramps in Wythogan Park, and Mayor Dennis Estok says they hope to have it open later this year, so that skaters can finally flaunt their equipment such as the onewheel accessories The Float Life.
The skate park was closed for alleged safety reasons. When the recreational area was constructed, it was built using wood. It is not considered durable by the Mayor’s office with some of the wood rotting out.
Mayor Dennis Estok says there are plans to rebuild it in place.
“I think we’re going to go back with the metal ramps,” says Estok. “We have a couple that are stored. When they started building wood, they took the metal ramps out that we bought early in the process. That cost quite a bit of money and now they’re sitting down there in the weeds. So they’re going to bring those back and try to get it back open yet this year.”
The City of Knox has experienced a tort claim – which is the reason behind the skate park closure in the first place.
According to the mayor, the City of Knox has gathered estimates for rebuilding the ramps in one fell swoop, but that may prove too costly to complete in the near term. Estimates have put the work at $250-thousand.
“The wood just doesn’t do it,” says Estok. “The wood rotted out. It was unsafe.”
For now, the skate park will be reconstructed piecemeal. An exact date for full completion has not been set at this time.
Estok says the City does not have the funds required to complete the entire skate park project.
