BERLIN – Plans for a skate park in Berlin took a major step forward this week with a decision by town officials to select Heron Park as the site of the facility.
The Berlin Town Council voted unanimously this week to designate Heron Park as the site of a future skate park. The decision was celebrated by members of We Heart Berlin, the nonprofit that’s been pushing for a skate park in town.
“As you can imagine we are elated that this process has finally gotten to this point,” said Tony Weeg, founder of We Heart Berlin. “Having a location chosen, means that this project can grow legs. With this resolution/motion we can begin to approach foundations and other private donation sources to partner with us to help make this dream come true.”
Following a meeting between town staff, parks commission members, council members and representatives of We Heart Berlin in July, Mayor Zack Tyndall said Monday the group had agreed to recommend Heron Park as the best location for a skate park. While a study ranked Stephen Decatur Park as the best location, Tyndall said the group was unanimous in its support of parcel 410 of the Heron Park property as the ideal location.
“We don’t want to commit fully to an exact location on parcel 410 but we think the most favorable place may be some of that concrete that’s already on site,” Tyndall said.
He added that there was future potential for a town public works facility on a portion of parcel 410 or parcel 151 but that the concrete section of parcel 410 was a logical place for a skate park. He said the work group of various involved parties would reconvene in October to talk about next steps.
“We’re on a solid pathway,” Tyndall said. “Thank you all for the work that you’ve done.”
Councilman Jack Orris pointed out the town was in an extended negotiating period with Palmer Gillis, as his company had presented a proposal to develop a portion of the Heron Park property.
“By doing this are we doing anything that would run afoul of that?” Orris asked.
Following the council’s decision to designate Heron Park as the town’s future skate park location, supporters of the project joined elected officials for a photo. Submitted image
Tyndall said it would not, as he’d articulated to Gillis that parcel 191 and parcel 410 were no longer part of the discussion.
“We’re narrowing the focus to just (parcel) 57,” Tyndall said.
Councilman Jay Knerr said Heron Park was the obvious choice for a skate park but said he didn’t want to narrow the focus to parcel 410.
Town Administrator Mary Bohlen said that while there was a consensus for parcel 410 the motion that was being considered by the council only committed the town to Heron Park.
“What’s solid here is the location being Heron Park,” Councilman Dean Burrell said.
The council voted unanimously to approve Heron Park as the location of Berlin’s future skate park. Weeg said later in the week that the decision meant the We Heart Berlin group could move forward with fundraising for the project, which is expected to cost close to $1 million.
“We see this as a phased project that fits in a bigger design of amenities at Heron Park for the residents of the Town of Berlin,” Weeg said. “We look forward to the next steps and those would be actually designing the park pieces, and which pieces get built in which phases.”
He said Heron Park was a great location for the park.
“This particular location is enticing for many reasons but a few are cost-saving, specifically this ground is already compacted, and the area handles water on its own,” he said. “The single most enticing part of this location choice is that we are specifically targeting an area that is already impervious, so we would not be adding any sort of net increase of impervious ground cover that would hinder stormwater handling.”
He said We Heart Berlin had already been working with Spohn Ranch on the skate park design and would be partnering with the company for construction as well.
“In the near future we will hold some public input sessions to determine the features that will be the ingredients of this long waited for amenity that just makes sense for our populace,” Weeg said. “We plan to have 14,000sq ft of skateable surface area and have an aggressive goal of some shovels in the ground in ’24. Whether that happens or not, this is a marathon not a sprint, and we’re just getting started. The estimated cost for this project is just short of $1 million and we plan to raise as much of that as we can with strategic partners. We plan for three rounds of funding, seeking $333,000 each round.”
He thanked community members for their support of the project so far and encouraged anyone interested in donating to visit the We Heart Berlin website.
