LEWISTON – Still $75,000 shy of the total needed to construct a skateboarding park planned for downtown, Skate Lewiston Auburn Movement organizers are turning to local boarders for help.
The outdoor skate park, planned for a spot in Kennedy Park, will be like none other north of Boston, said SLAM co-Chairman Pat Butler on Thursday. He helped present the most recent plans at a meeting Thursday night in City Hall, afterward telling a handful of skateboarders that now is the time to get involved.
“Many of the questions we have when we’re out there fund raising is, What are the kids doing for the park?'” Butler said. He urged everyone to sign up for bottle drives and other fund-raising events.
The hope, he and other SLAM members said, is that the park work will start in April and be completed by August.
While design and drainage work remains to be done, everything appears to be on target, Butler said.
The entire park is expected to cost no more than $242,000. About $165,000 has been raised or pledged to date, group Treasurer Steve Austin said. Another $60,000 to $75,000 in cash is needed.
The park plans include uniquely shaped bowls, or swimming pool-like basins meant for skating, and “street” features like steps and railings. It will be constructed from seamless concrete covering 12,000 square feet.
Thirteen-year-old skater Brooks Noddin of Auburn signed up for a few fund-raising activities before leaving Thursday. Today he mostly skates in the streets, he said. A park will be nice because “you can skate wherever you want, pretty much; you’re not gonna get kicked out.”
Steve Austin’s son, Jon Austin, also volunteered his time to help with fund raising. The 14-year-old has been skating for two years, he said. Right now he likes to skate on the Bates College campus.
Butler said many teens have been absent from SLAM meetings because the latest push to get the park done started as summer vacation began. The younger Austin admitted he has let his dad go to meetings and report back most nights. “He dragged me out,” he said Thursday with a grin.
A new park sign was unveiled Thursday, as well as a new fund-raising tactic. SLAM will be making donation buckets available to local businesses willing to put them on display.
To make a donation to the park or find out how to obtain a donation bucket, people may call Steve Austin at Austin Associates at 783-9111.
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