BETHEL – Skateboarders, rollerbladers, and scooter, wheelchair and bicycle riders are invited to attend Bethel’s skatepark design meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 1.

“The purpose of it is to get skater input and, ultimately, to produce a set of construction documents,” Town Manager Scott Cole said Tuesday afternoon. “Construction is a long way away right now and full funding has not been identified yet.”

The skatepark would be built at Davis Park between Parkway Road and a 50-foot setback from the Androscoggin River.

“It will be a good looking, aesthetically pleasing structure when done. Bethel is all about fitness and recreation and this (skatepark) is all about that. We just don’t know when we’re going to build it,” Cole said.

In February, Breaking Ground LLC of Cranston, R.I., which offered a $187,000 estimate for a 10,000-square-foot concrete skate park, won the bidding process. Its bid includes town contribution of labor and materials. Otherwise, the bid would jump to $247,000.

“Developers Ron Savage and Francis Dumont have been excellent. They’ve offered their equipment and services for drainage and excavation work,” Cole said.

Breaking Ground built the Lewiston skatepark and is scheduled to build one in Augusta, and phase two of a park in Oxford Hills.

The owner of the company, Sam Batterston, has professionally designed and installed skateboard parks in New England for seven years. He has also worked in the skatepark and site construction arena for more than 15 years, according to his bid proposal documents, which are available at the Bethel town office.

At Wednesday night’s meeting, Cole said members of The Greater Bethel Area Skatepark Committee will conceptual information.

“We have a sketch that was done by Batterston, but it’s subject to modifications by the community. We hope to end up with something that will work toward a design for a concrete in-ground structure that’s from an 8,000- to 10,000-square-foot footprint,” Cole said.

To date, Bethel has raised about $23,000 through town budgets and spent a few thousand dollars on surveying and permitting work.

“This (meeting) is the next step, but we’re not on the verge of building anything yet. I would count it a victory, however, if we can cut and grub vegetation by next winter, do excavation and get permits in hand,” Cole said.

Getting all the necessary funding lined up could take a few years, although the committee has several grant applications out. It did, however, get a $5,000 grant from nationally famous skateboarder Tony Hawke’s foundation.

In 2001, Sunday River Ski Resort donated the original elements for the existing skateboard park at Davis Park but has yet to be approached for help toward the new, bigger and better facility.