WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Parks and recreation leaders in Wausau have voted to approve $200,000 worth of improvements to the city’s skate park located within Oak Park.
City and County Parks, Recreation, and Forestry Director Jamie Polley says she’s been receiving complaints about the condition of the facility from users.
“A lot of it has to do with the surfacing which was put in, I believe, in 2002,” said Polley during Monday’s Committee meeting.
She adds that much of the equipment has a 15-20 year lifespan, meaning since the park was first built in 2002 it’s time to replace the features anyway. But the biggest part of the project remains the resurfacing.
Polley did enlist the help of a skate park company in California that she previously worked with on a facility in Minnesota who suggested the price tag for the repairs could run up to $200,000. She expects funding could be raised by users of the park along with corporate sponsorships and donations from local foundations.
Should the project have been put off for another year, Polley adds that the park could be forced to close due to unsafe conditions.
The proposal currently calls for planning and design to be completed next January and February with construction to run from May through August.
The vote was part of a larger package of Capital Improvements which also included the replacement of some city tennis courts, HVAC systems for an operations building, and reconstruction of the parking lot at Sylvan Hill. The package passed on a unanimous vote, and will now go on to the full council later this month.
Wausau’s skate park is one of just two in the immediate area, with the other being in Weston. Wisconsin Rapids and Stevens Point do have skate parks of their own, and Merrill is finalizing plans for a park as well.
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