Wed 11 Jan 2006
In case you missed today’s Austin-American Statesman, the city bond advisory committee has decided to submit their proposed bond package to the city council with the same numbers they had laid out prior to the past round of meetings. No money has been added or taken away from any of the existing projects. This means voters will be given the chance to approve $652,000 for a new skatepark and $612,000 for a BMX park in May or possibly later this year (November) unless the city council mucks around with the numbers.
The builder of Smithville’s new public skatepark, Doug King, has flown out to California to help bowl in one end of the indoor DC vert ramp. He’ll also be under consideration for helping out in Hawaii on Danny Way’s mega ramp / bowl complex. Hopefully he’ll be able to split his time between the pacific ocean and Texas because there are a bunch of cities that have been calling asking for skatepark proposals from him. One such town, Lakeway, supposedly has just signed a contract on their skatepark project and construction should begin within a month. Until I get a confirmation, I’m not publishing the rumored builder’s name, but if it turns out to be true, holy crap! UPDATE- It’s Grindline. They’re taking over Texas.
Oh, Grindline gathered input from Houston’s skatepark advocacy group, PUSH, and has posted the design they’ve created based on that input. Fundraising is still taking place, so if you live in Houston and want to see this get done sooner rather than later… contact Barry or Jason over at the PUSH website.
Mabel Davis now has porta-potties until the public swimming pool opens in the summer and those restrooms become available. The parks and rec director told me that if the bond passes in May, he can pull some money out of the skatepark bond money to drop a prefab restroom out there for a pretty reasonable price. No word yet on when the lights will appear.
January 12th, 2006 at 2:29 am
How many square feet would it be if 650,000 is spent on it? This is the one that is going to be located off of 183, right?
January 12th, 2006 at 7:35 am
minus a bowl
that could easily be 20,000+ sq feet
now the important thing is for as many people to get involved on the design process
im tired of hearing people bitch about mable davis
that didnt go to any input meetings
ya know?
January 12th, 2006 at 8:42 am
I don’t think it will be built with out a bowl.
mable davis is 16500, and how much did it end up costing?
The design process starts here, lets create a online polling system that allows for input in a fair manner.
January 12th, 2006 at 8:56 am
My thoughts exactly, Shawn.
Matt may very well have more accurate numbers than me, but I thought Mabel Davis came out to 14,000 sq. ft. The construction budget, minus engineering and permitting fees, came out to $380,000. So, yeah. $650,000 could very well build a 20,000 sq. ft. skatepark with or without a bowl.
Seth
January 12th, 2006 at 1:11 pm
I love you Seth Johnson!
January 12th, 2006 at 4:18 pm
well i just went to the grindline webpage and it showed the sqare footage, I am trying to get an idea of he size of the proposed park, thats all. it seems like with a little work we might end up with a park close to twice as big as mable davis.
January 12th, 2006 at 4:43 pm
so i am guessing this will be the park that is going to be out in roundrock or pflugerville or something, why would Travis County want to do that? Why not put it where it will be more accessible to the majority of skaters, so outside out Austin gets a 650,000 dollar park, and austin gets a 160,000 dollar park, am i correct?
January 12th, 2006 at 5:03 pm
Josh,
You’ve got the bonds turned around. Travis County had its bond election in November. That was for $500,000 to be located near Pflugerville in North East Metro Park. That already passed.
The upcoming bond election is for the City of Austin. The meetings you attended were for the City of Austin bond input. That’s where we’ve got a proposed $650,000 amount allocated for a skatepark within the city limits.
These are two totally different bonds and projects. The reason the Travis County bond will be used for a skatepark away from the city center is because Travis County doesn’t control park land inside the city limits of Austin.
Seth
January 12th, 2006 at 6:40 pm
pflugerville, and round rock, have a big number of skateboarders that just aren’t able to get around as well as the austin skaters. Just wait till that park is built. It will be twice as crowded as mable davis. Also the new hendrickson high school in Pflugerville just recently convinced the teacher involved to make skate club on two days. and last I heard they were pushing for three.
January 13th, 2006 at 1:10 am
phreesytling skate club
January 13th, 2006 at 6:59 am
ok cool seth, thanks for clearing that, up. I think its good that there is going to be a park built out there and one in austin during 06 (hopefully).
January 13th, 2006 at 7:02 am
Seth, do you know the exact name on the ballot that voters will need to select to go to the skatepark? Or is it just the City of Austin bond in general.
January 13th, 2006 at 7:27 am
The voting and stuff hasn’t been settled yet. City Council has yet to set a date for the election and whether or not stuff will be split out, or kept in one big wad.
Seth
January 13th, 2006 at 8:54 am
Huh-huh! He said “wad.”
January 13th, 2006 at 2:49 pm
Seth, so who’s driving the Lakeway project anyhow? Cities don’t just decide to build a GL park without SOMEONE lobbying for it.
If they’re that close to starting it, we ought to be able to get more details, i.e., design, location, etc.
January 13th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
Here’s info on the upcoming skater input meeting–
http://www.lakewayparks.org/
January 16th, 2006 at 5:11 am
Seth,
I’m confused. Wasn’t there a bond that had passed with a skatepark included and then they pulled the skatepark out? Which bond was that? Are you saying that the Northeast Metro is a go?
Thanks
January 16th, 2006 at 11:15 am
Mike,
I don’t know what bond you’re referring to in terms of a skatepark getting taken out. The travis county bond passed in November with $500k allocated for a skatepark in NE Metro park. That’s a go. It might not get built until 2008, but it’s a go.
Seth
January 17th, 2006 at 1:23 am
thats too long