BETHEL — Work continued Tuesday on the town’s new skate park at Davis Park off Route 26 and Parkway Road.

Various features were taking shape at either end of the park, as crews
worked on rebar forms for two large connected bowls on the southern end
and concrete ramps on the other end. Work is expected to be completed
in October.

Three nearby parcels underwent scrutiny by selectmen at Monday
night’s board meeting, albeit for a different kind of skating: a new
outdoor ice-skating facility for the community.

“They thought it was a great idea,” Town Manager Jim Doar said
Tuesday of the board’s reaction to a Bethel Area Chamber of Commerce
suggestion. “They were really excited about it.”

According to a Sept. 9 letter from chamber Executive Director Robin
Zinchuk to Doar and selectmen, the chamber has organized a task force
of interested people to help plan Bethel WinterFest 2010.

“We would like to have the WinterFest 2010 inspire the ‘rebirth’ of
an outdoor ice-skating facility for the community,” Zinchuk wrote.

The town previously had a small ice-skating rink on the Town Common.

Zinchuk said Bethel engineer Jim Sysko had worked with the task
force to identify siting options for the rink. One was the detention
pond on land owned by the town along Parkway, but the Maine Department
of Environmental Protection said it would require “a modest amount of
paperwork to allow this use.”

Other disadvantages are the sloping embankment and the lack of parking space, Zinchuk said.

The second site was the large lot surrounded by Lower Main and Cross
streets and Parkway Road, but the town doesn’t own the land long-term.

Doar said selectmen went for the third option: the site of the town’s record-setting giant snowman and giant snow woman.

Dubbed “SnowWoman Lot,” the 4.08-acre parcel opposite Casablanca
Cinema 4 and the chamber offices, is large enough for multiple
WinterFest uses, including ice-skating, a proposed SnowMaze and
parking, Zinchuk said.

But the selling point is that it’s surrounded by existing lighting,
making night skating more viable. It also has a nearby water hydrant.

On the downside, Bethel doesn’t own the land. However, the town has permission from the landowner to use it, Doar said.

The planned ice-skating facility would be 200 feet by 175 feet, big
enough for a separate recreation rink for adults and young children and
a hockey rink for adults and older children.

“So, we’ll see how many volunteers show up to work on it and what issues we’ll have to keep it skate-able,” Doar said.

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A new skate park in Bethel is taking shape after more than two years of planning. Crews were pouring cement forms on one end of the complex at Davis Park and working on rebar forms on this end Tuesday afternoon. Construction began Aug. 26 and is expected to be completed in October.

Workers from Jerry Bernier Concrete finish up for the day late Tuesday afternoon on one end of a new skate park at Davis Park in Bethel.