by Dave Zornow
Nyack, August 8 — NYS Senator David Carlucci (D-New City) announced a $100,000 grant this week for Nyack Needs a Skate Park, a community fundraising effort to build a new skate park in Memorial Park. The New York State grant follows previous contributions from the Tony Hawk Foundation, punk band The Misfits and Wright Brothers Real Estate.
“Working with my colleagues in the Senate, we were able to secure a grant that will finally [let Nyack] complete this project,” said Carlucci. “It makes it easier when it comes from the ground up…when the community really comes together and sees that vision.”
Nyack Needs A Skatepark has raised a total of $175,000 to design and build this sports facility. Last month, a foundation created by skateboarding legend Tony Hawk pledged $25,000 to the project. “It is an absolute honor to receive this award from an organization that is admired and venerated throughout the country, and indeed the world,” said Sarah Anderson of Nyack Needs A Skatepark. “Formal recognition by the Tony Hawk Foundation gives true legs to our project, and we now run with determination to the finish line.” The Tony Hawk Foundation provides grants and technical assistance to grassroots citizen groups to build free, public skateparks across the U.S.
“It’s a pretty amazing thing. It has happened on an incredibly fast timeline,” said Nyack Mayor Jen White.
Carlucci made the announcement at a special meeting at Nyack’s Village Hall on Aug 6 attended by about 65 skate park supporters. Also on hand for the announcement was Jerry Only from the legendary punk rock group, The Misfits. The band and the Nyack Chamber of Commerce teamed up for a benefit concert last May which raised $22,000 for the skate park project.
Action Sport Design has been selected to design Nyack’s new skatepark. Mike McIntyre, a principal at the firm, presented possible skate park configurations at the Wed night meeting and led a discussion about which features the public would like to see incorporated into the skate park.
Design Dimensions
The Nyack Skate Park is being designed by Stantec’s Action Sport, which specializes in creating unique skate parks. The company put together a preliminary design for the skateboard area for the Tony Hawk Foundation grant application, but that design was presented on Wednesday night only as the basis for discussion on features that could be included.
Here’s what’s been proposed for the skateboard area:
Size: 5,000 square feet
Location: Northeast corner of Memorial Park, adjacent to the new basketball court
Main material: Poured concrete
Features: Seating areas; natural area for aesthetics and to retain water that will run off the concrete skating area.
Require a green space area so the skatepark is not just a “slab of concrete.”
Design suggestions from the public include:
- Use some bricks to honor Rockland’s brickmaking history – Brickmaking was long a major industry in Haverstraw, and Rockland County was long a source of stone quarried to build brownstones in New York City.
- Incorporate a design feature that mimics the design of the new Tappan Zee Bridge, which dominates the views of the Hudson River from Memorial Park.
- Include a unique skateboarding element that other skateparks in the region do not have, so that Nyack can entice skateboarders from other areas to visit and use the skatepark with local skateboarders.
- Don’t make it boring. Skateboarders recommended a variety of features, including ledges and steps, that would make the Nyack skateboard park functional and challenging.
See also:
- Tony Hawk Foundation Grants Announced, SkateboardingMag.com 8/4/2014
- Nyack Needs a Skate Park Facebook Group
- Misfits in Concert to Benefit Nyack Skate Plaza, 5/4/2014
- Skateboard Plaza Planning Session Rolls into Village Hall, 7/31/2014