Skateboarding in paradise? This beach town is putting the wheels in motion
Built in 2003, the Holmes Beach skatepark is considered to be a bit of a dinosaur in the world of skateboarding with its prefabricated ramps and obstacles that sit atop a riding surface instead of today’s all-concrete parks.
With help from one of the designers of Bradenton’s Riverwalk skatepark, the city looks to ride the momentum of what is considered by skateboard enthusiasts as not only a sport, but a lifestyle.
The Holmes Beach park, located at 5901 Marina Dr., closed in 2017 for repairs and unsafe conditions. The city took the opportunity to look at ways to enhance and expand the park. It remained closed throughout 2018 as early conceptual designs for a new park mimicked a lot of what is already there and residents rejected what was being offered.
The city went back to the proverbial drawing board and in December, Tito Porrata of Pivot Custom Skateparks, working with city engineer Lynn Burnett, presented an updated design that was widely accepted by the community and elected officials.
The city commission agreed to move forward and pledged $150,000 toward the redesign. A drop-in bowl is still being considered for the new park and will cost an additional $100,000 that the city is asking the community to raise.
To date, it doesn’t appear that any additional funding has been raised, according to Mayor Judy Titsworth, who said no one has come forward to inform the city of any fund-raising efforts.
“But we would love to get that $100,000 because everybody wants the bowl,” Titsworth said, noting that as long as the money is raised before construction begins, “It won’t have an affect on the timetable.”
Titsworth said the new park is under design and final drawings are expected to come before the city commission by May. From there, drainage improvements will begin in June, “And we hope to have the skatepark under construction by summer.”
Titsworth said the city has had skatepark improvements budgeted for several years, “But they never spent the money. It wasn’t a big push and a priority by the former administration, but it’s happening now.”
The toddler park that was next to the skatepark is being moved close to the pavilion at City Park to the north of City Hall. Titsworth said it’s to make room for the new skatepark, but also gives a better separation of the smaller children from those using the skatepark.
Other improvements coming to the city is a proposal to add a kayak launch and nature trail at Grassy Point and the city is making improvements at its dog park. The baseball field is being redesigned as a multipurpose field, which will leave room to relocate the existing large dog park and make improvements, while the small dog park will remain at its current location.
This story was originally published March 26, 2019 at 3:59 PM.