Skate park opening delayed

Hold the skateboards. Put away the pads and helmets. Local skaters will have to wait until next spring to try their skills at the new Bloomington skate park. The proposed site, located at Upper Cascades Park, was planned for a winter opening, but has been pushed back to later next year.\n"We were on an ambitious schedule," said John Turnbull, Bloomington Parks and Recreation sports and fitness director. "We made a guess about the opening date well before the construction documents were completed. They took longer than our initial projection."\nNonetheless, the once flat, grassy piece of land with sparse trees and Edna's Art Supplies shop has been converted to dirt terrain with wooden frames rising from it and large, wooden pits. Even in the cold and wind, with the first snowflakes falling from the sky, the construction crew is hard at work. \nThe crew heading the Bloomington skate park construction consists of Dreamland Skateparks "Dreamteam." Dreamland Skateparks, the park's subcontractor, is a well known skate park design and construction company in Lincoln City, Oregon. Their construction crew consists of experienced skaters who have a passion for the sport and focus on quality of the parks built. The company has built over 17 parks throughout the U.S. including projects in Idaho, Montana and Oregon, but this is their first project in the Midwest. \nThroughout the last few weeks, the crew has shown their passion in the completion of the initial steps of grating, excavating and drainage of the land. \nMeanwhile, other members of the Dreamland Skateparks' crew have been constructing wood and steel forms into which they will pour concrete creating skating pits and bowls.\nTurnbull said the next step in the process is to build forms for the street course and above ground elements. The final step in construction will be to add a fence surrounding the perimeter of the park and a parking lot off of Kinser Pike.\n"We are happy with the progress. Construction is moving really fast and it looks very good," Turnbull said. \nTavita Scanlon, member of the "Dreamteam" with 17 years skating experience, agreed that construction is running smoothly despite a construction style not typically used by Dreamland.\n"This park is a different style then we are used to," Scanlon said. "Usually we do 'design-build' which means we design the park as we build it. But here, we are going by the pre-designed blueprints of the contractor so every time we redraw a design we need to submit it to the firm for approval. But everything is going well."\nDespite the delay on the skate park's opening, the local skating community is not worried. Local skaters have petitioned for a skate park in Bloomington for years. Previously, skaters traveled to Columbus, Louisville, or as far as the state of Oregon to skate. Once a bid was accepted on Sept. 9, the Bloomington Park's and Recreation Department and architect Dave O'Mara worked with groups of skaters and parents to design park plans that met everyone's needs. Bloomington resident Deborah Hayes and her son, John, have been active members in taking the park from a dream to a reality. \n"John and I are so excited for this park and it's getting closer to reality," Hayes said. "I know the kids involved in this process now do believe that the process of local government does work. I think they have a hard time understanding why it takes so long, but they can testify to the fact that it does work."\n-- Contact staff writer Holly Pilewski at 0hpilewsk@indiana.edu.