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Another local town will soon have a skate park for its residents to enjoy.
The Town Government of Golden Meadow announced earlier this summer that it will use $250,000 in dedicated funds toward creating the parish’s first-ever skating facility on a plot of land that’s currently unoccupied at Oakridge Park.
Mayor Joey Bouziga, the town council, local engineer John Plaisance and an official with Spohn Ranch Skateparks hosted a little more than 20 residents on Wednesday afternoon for a brief meeting and workshop that aimed to answer questions about the park, while generating public input on how it should look.
During the meeting, Bouziga praised the work of Councilwoman Priscilla Mounic, who took the idea to the council and got it approved.
Plaisance said if “everything goes perfectly,” it’s possible that the park could be open before the end of the year.
“We’re excited about this,” Bouziga said. “We’re going to do this, and we’re going to do it right. It will happen, and it’s going to be something that our young men and women who are interested in this can enjoy. I don’t skate. I’ve never been on a skateboard in my life. But that’s why we’re having this meeting, so that the people who will be using this can have input in what’s there for you to use.”
The Golden Meadow facility will be smaller than Houma’s – at least at first.
Spohn Ranch Skateparks designer and developer Vincent Onel said that given Golden Meadow’s $250,000 budget and given the terrain that the park will sit on, the town should expect for a park that is approximately 5,000-6,000 square feet when it’s first opened. That’s smaller than the project in Houma, which cost just north of $1.2 million to build, according to Terrebonne Parish officials.
But the Golden Meadow park will be placed in the center of a 20,000 square foot field of grass, which gives the town the option to build a bigger facility if it needs to in the future.
“That wouldn’t be difficult to do at all,” Onel said when expansion was brought up. “You will have space in all directions to make that happen.”
“We’re putting the park here with exactly that in mind,” Plaisance added. “This is just our starting point – what we intend to do with the money that’s present at this time.”
During the meeting, Onel showed a presentation that detailed his company’s history, while also showing examples of Spohn Ranch’s other work.
The company has built parks for the X-Games and other worldwide skateboarding events. It also designed the park in Houma, as well as another in New Orleans and several others throughout the Southeast.
At the end of his presentation, Onel asked a group of about 10-12 kids in attendance to fill out questionnaires to gauge the average skill level of skaters in Golden Meadow. The group then laid out mock designs on a table by using toy ramps and pieces of equipment to create a preliminary sketch for how things in Golden Meadow ideally would look.
Onel said that throughout the next several weeks, sketches will be released on a Facebook group titled ‘Golden Meadow Skatepark’. Through that avenue, the designers will collect input and ideas to build a park that fits what the local skaters want.
“The reality is that I will only be here about once a year to see how things are going,” Onel said. “You guys are the ones who will be skating the park every day, so we want to get your input so that we can make your ideas come to light.”
Plaisance said that once bidding on the project comes back, it will only take 45-60 days to build the park. By that timeline, it leaves a small sliver of hope that the park could be completed sometime in 2015, assuming that weather conditions cooperate.
During the meeting, Bouziga also outlined the town’s stance and policy regarding those who will be injured at the park.
Bouziga said the Town of Golden Meadow will only be liable for injuries that occur because of an equipment failure involving park equipment – a broken ramp, railing or anything else that puts a skater in harm’s way.
Anything else will be at the expense of the skateboarder, as several signs will be posted at the park that will explain the dangers of extreme sports, while also explaining that participants are skating at their own risk.
“You’re on your own,” Bouziga said. “Skate at your own risk.”
