The Wythogan Skate Park, which is currently closed and in need of repairs, was discussed during last Monday’s park plan public hearing as well as the regular Knox Park Board meeting.
During the public hearing for the 5-year Master Plan for Knox Parks, Architect Mike Reese with the Troyer Group mentioned the conditions of the skate park, saying that much of the equipment and materials are damaged and in need of upgrades. He said, judging from survey results, Knox residents were in favor of renovating the skate park rather than removing it.
Reese explained, “That was another thing that a lot of people really enjoyed having and see it as a nice amenity for the youth in the community.” While discussing the draft plan, specifcally the public survey results, Reese mentioned, “Pretty overwhelmingly the response was that people wanted to repair that rather than see it go away.”
Park Superintendent George Byer also brought up the skate park during the regular meeting that followed the hearing. He mentioned that he’s been assessing what would need to be done in order to have the skate park back up and running. Byer said that last fall, he did get some quotes for what it would cost to have all the old equipment removed so they could start from scratch. He found that amount of work could cost anywhere from $30,000 to $150,000.
According to Park Superintendent Byer, rather than taking it all out, Byer said crews will remove the parts that are rotted beyond repair, salvage and reuse what they can and put in new materials where they need to.
Byer said, “We’ve got a local contractor that is willing to donate his time and his crew. We’re going to go ahead and repair and fix up what we have and as soon as the weather breaks, we’re going to dive into it and get it taken care of.”
Park Superintendent Byer said he is still attempting to coordinate with the owner of the skate park in order to finalize details so they can be ready to start renovations as soon as weather permits.
