By Brian Smith
Register News Writer
RICHMOND — A local group seeking to build a public skateboard park in Richmond will conduct a public meeting next week in downtown Richmond.
Skate Richmond, KY is a non-profit group founded in 2007, according to group member and local attorney Wesley Browne, and is interested in constructing a public skateboard park in downtown Richmond.
The meeting is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, March 23 at the Central Bank Community Room on Main Street, where group members will discuss their plans for designing and constructing the park “without the significant use of city funds,” Browne said.
According to the group’s page on the social networking site Facebook, the group intends to apply for a grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation to help construct the park in addition to raising funds on its own.
The foundation, which was created in 2002 by professional skateboarder Tony Hawk, offers funds to help communities construct skateboard parks in combination with local fundraising and support.
The Richmond Parks and Recreation Department had budgeted $200,000 for the construction of a skateboard park at Lake Reba, but the city’s budget woes put the plan on hold indefinitely, parks director Kevin Gorman said in October.
Browne said the group expects members of Madison County’s juvenile justice system to attend the meeting, and said he hopes several political candidates also will attend.
A number of area communities have constructed skateboard parks in recent years, including Lexington and Nicholasville.
The Berea City Council approved a $62,000 bid in November to install nine concrete skateboarding structures in the city’s new city park addition.
The meeting is scheduled to last until 7 p.m., Browne said.
