Organizers of a new skate park being planned in Columbus need to raise another $100,000 before construction can begin.
The city is planning to replace the 15,000-square-foot, mostly wooden Jolie Crider Memorial Skate Park at Indiana Avenue and Marr Road in Clifty Park. In its place, a 12,000-square-foot concrete facility would be built, to carry the same name.
The skate park had been initially scheduled to open by the end of this month, but the start of construction has been delayed until September to secure more money toward the $385,000 project, said Stacy Findley, project and resource development director for the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department.
The park is named in memory of Columbus North High School freshman Jolie Crider, who died from bacterial meningitis on May 7, 1998, at age 14.
The Crider family donated $25,000 through the Jolie Crider Reach Out Fund, set up by her parents, to support the original project. Had she lived, Jolie Crider would have been 35 years old this month.
The public will get a chance to see and weigh in on concept designs that have been developed by Janne Saario, an architect from Helsinki, Finland, who has built skate parks around the world. The skate park being developed in Columbus, however, will be Saario’s first in the United States.
“The concept design took longer than we expected, but it was definitely worth the wait,” Findley said.
The public is invited to see the plans at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Hamilton Community Center & Ice Arena.
The work, to replace a wooden facility that has sustained considerable damage over the past 20 years, will take about two months to complete, Findley said.
Funding so far has come through a combination of private donations, parks and recreation capital monies, and several grants, Findley said. One new fundraiser is planned July 14 at the skate park, while another is scheduled for Aug. 3 at the Hamilton Community Center & Ice Arena, she said.
“We’ll continue to fund raise until we begin construction,” Findley said.
A portion of the skate park was removed May 24 by a group from Cummins, the city’s skate park committee and parks and recreation staff. However, the park still remains open to the public.
Obstacles were installed to replace the portion that was taken out at the skate park, Findley said.
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To donate funds toward a new skate park in Columbus, checks can be made out to the Columbus Park Foundation with “skate park” in the memo line. They can be be dropped off at the city’s Parks and Recreation Department at Donner Center, 739 22nd St.
Checks can be mailed to the Columbus Park Foundation, P.O. Box 858, Columbus, IN 47202. Online donations can be made on the foundation’s website by visiting columbusparkfoundation.org.
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