By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Should Nephi City get into the business of developing and
operating a skate park&emdash;a place for skate board,
in-line, and BMX bikers to enjoy?
One plus, if there were such a park, is that concrete
edges throughout the community would be safe.
One negative, they are expensive to build for long-time
use.
The city council determined, after listening to the
presentation from skate enthusiasts, to form a citizen
committee to study the various aspects of developing such a
park and then to make recommendations to the council.
Head of the committee will be Steve Carter, who with his
son, Kohl Carter, acted as spokespersons for the crowd of
more than 80 people who attended council meeting Tuesday
evening.
"We have a community of 5,000 people so should a skate
park in Nephi be pro-rated down from the sizes you have
shown us (which were in communities of more than 17,000
residents)?" asked Chad Brough, mayor.
A size recommendation, he said, would be one of the items
the council would like the committee to address.
The one concern was funding, said Brough. He suggested
the committee look for ways to fund the project, other than
the use of local tax dollars, and pledged that the city
council would do the same.
He also recommended the parks, cemetery and recreation
site superintendent be made part of the committee.
"He has the understanding and knowledge necessary," said
Brough. For example, he would know about funding resources
for recreation and would know sites the city council might
consider using.
Carter set up, in advance, a telephone interview with
Paul Pugmire, city council member in Rexburg, Idaho.
"The skate park is the highest used facility in our
recreational assembly," said Pugmire.
In about the same space used to construct a double tennis
court, which allows eight people to use it in an hour, a
skate park will have 50 people using it in the same amount
of time.
"Our park can carry 50 to 60 people at one time and, when
it is dry, it is used all the time."
Liability issues are not a concern because of the
municipal-insurance requirements in Idaho, he said. In
Idaho, there is a $1 million cap for municipalities and the
cities insurer added the facility there at no extra cost to
the community.
The park was constructed and then turned over to the
city, he said. The public facility met the statutory
liability.
"One interesting requirement of the insurer was that we
not require protective equipment or else we would have had
to employ a lifeguard," he said.
However, the skaters have had no more injuries, such as
broken arms, than the baseball players and other sports
participants at other city recreation sites.
Pugmire reviewed the costs for the skate park built in
that community, which were mostly monies from sources other
than the community coffers.
"We built a multi-use facility, the Claire-Boyle Skate
Park, for $205,000 in total," said Pugmire. "Of that total,
$24,000 came from the city general fund."
One acre of land cost $26,000; road base, obtained with
county help, cost $36,000; architect and engineering
expenses were $16,000; site preparation and drainage costs
were contributed by the city and county at an estimated cost
of $26,000.
Pugmire said $75,000 of the total cost came from private
philanthropic sources; $5,000 from Cal Ranch, Inc.; $24,000
as a transfer from the city general fund; and $5,000 in the
form of a grant from a Ricks College student contribution
fund.
"There are two things to look for in the park location,"
said Pugmire. It needs to be near another city facility and
it should be built so that it can be visible to the
public.
When it is in the traffic pattern of the community, it is
more attractive to the better elements of the skating world
and when it is by other city recreation sites&emdash;such as
a park&emdash;it is better integrated as a family
facility.
Skaters are like golfers, they like to travel around and
visit other skate parks and have the challenge of the
different characteristics of other facilities, said
Pugmire.
Because of the winters in Utah and Idaho, the design
needs to be thought out carefully, he said. For example, the
skate park in Rexburg was built on a 1-percent grade so that
it is self-draining and does not depend on an underground
drainage system.
"We also put in a great deal of base so that the
super-structure of the concrete is well-done so that it can
withstand our hard winters," he said.
"Although it is expensive, you need to cope all the
edges," said Pugmire. "Any edge that can be ground, needs to
have coping. In Provo City at the skate park, there were
some places where some of the edges were not coped and in
less than one month some of those edges had degraded and
become un-skateable."
The life expectancy of a concrete park is 30 to 40 or
more years.
There are other two basic ways to build a skate park, he
said. One is above ground, made of wood and synthetic
surfaces and the other below made of concrete poured over a
base formed to the desired shape.
In Park City there is an above grade
facility&emdash;mostly made from pre-constructed polymer
surfaces. The life expectancy of that surface is largely
unknown as the technology used to construct them is fairly
new and is still developing. In the early days, they were
guaranteed for 10 years but now the guarantee varies
according to manufacturer.
One thing Rexburg did, said Pugmire, which he was not
certain was a good idea was to keep construction of the
facility off-the-books. "Because of that we established a
model that such facilities should be built by donations and
I think that did an injustice to the sport because the
facility is very low-maintenance and yet very high-use."
He said it took two and a half years, from the first
meeting with the city council by skating enthusiasts, until
the construction was done. At that point, skaters were so
anxious to try it out, that volunteer guards slept at the
site for three days until the concrete had cured.
Those who would like to contact Steve Carter to volunteer
for the committee or to assist with the project should call
him at 623-3338.
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