Skate park construction begins on Ash Street
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on July 15, 2015 1:46 PM
Little more than six months after Josh Lancaster and Kevin Gillespe petitioned the Goldsboro City Council for a skate park, construction on a site for the park recently began beside O'Reilly's Auto Parts on East Ash Street.
And the park's expected completion date is sooner than some might expect.
Goldsboro Parks and Recreation Director Scott Barnard said they expect concrete to be laid and for ramps to be bolted in place within "a few weeks."
Barnard said the city is currently working to grade and pack the dirt on site so that BDH Concrete Construction can come in and pour the concrete pad for the park.
Parks Superintendent John Albert said the city crew operating on the site will be in charge of preparing the site for the park, which consists of creating a firm base.
"We've striped off the root zone to get to the top soil, and we'll be using the to construct the base for the park," Albert said. "After the dirt is packed, we'll put gravel on top and get that properly compacted to get it ready for concrete to be poured on the site."
Concrete for the park will cost approximately $15,000, and will come from a line item transfer in Parks and Recreation's sidewalk budget.
For now only one pad will be constructed at the site, and there will be the potential in the future for a second pad to be laid if resources become available.
The 96-by-60-foot pad being constructed will consist of two quarter pipes, two grinding rails, a kicker ramp and a pyramid ramp.
Parts for the modular skate park were bought by the city from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base nearly two years ago after the base surplussed the parts.
The parts of the park aren't quite ready to be skated on, though.
Albert said the parts for the park are currently being refurbished in the Parks and Recreation maintenance shop.
"We've got to paint it, clean it, stuff like that," Albert said. "We have to make sure it's safe."
With the site being where it is -- between O'Reilly's Auto Parts and Stoney Creek Park -- flooding is a concern.
But, Barnard said, flooding is a contingency that cannot be prevented,
"There's no preventing anything from flooding," Barnard said. "There are only a few things you can use a site like that for, and a park is one of them. You'll be able to use the skate park 350 out of 365 days of the year, but the other 15 days of the year you'll be ankle-deep in water. On days like that you wouldn't be outside skateboarding anyways."
The process of getting a skate park in Goldsboro began in November 2014 when Lancaster and Gillespe began collecting signatures on a petition for a skate park in Goldsboro.
They traveled door-to-door, asking for signatures, created an online petition and left a hard copy of the petition at Bicycle World.
The boys, both 14, collected hundreds of signatures in only a few weeks.
Following the success of their petition, Lancaster and Gillespe approached Barnard for guidance before presenting their idea to the city council.
After making their city council presentation, O'Reilly's Auto Parts called Barnard and offered the land beside the business as a site for the park. In only slightly more than six months, Lancaster and Gillespe's idea became a reality for the pair.
"It's been a long time coming," Albert said. "I'm very excited to see it completed."