Youth also plan snake run for facility in Cosca Regional
Talk about a plan being put into motion.
A group of Clinton youth hope to soon be enjoying a skate park with a snake run and skateable art pieces. But they won’t just be using the park— they created it.
The youth have already secured $500,000 for the facility in Cosca Regional Park and met Aug. 19 to begin perfecting its design.
The group met at Cosca’s Clearwater Nature Center with community members, a representative of Del. James Proctor (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach and representatives from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.
“[The park is] something that will be brought to the community,” said Shaymar Higgs, 21, one of the more than 25 skaters who rallied for the park. “It’s finally something we can call our own.”
The skaters provided some examples of elements they wanted included in the park, including a small- to medium-sized bowl or empty pool, a snake run, skateable art pieces and an open space for community events such as skateboarding competitions or concerts.
Don Herring, senior planner for the M-NCPPC’s park planning and development section, suggested also including a separate area for younger or less advanced skaters.
While there is no definite timeline for the project, the group is planning to complete the design in the next few months and begin construction in spring of 2010. Larry Quarrick, chief of park planning and development, said he is hopeful the skate park will be open for skaters by the end of 2010.
The Melrose skate park in Hyattsville opened in July in the 4600 block of Rhode Island Avenue. Greenbelt, Bowie and Laurel also house skate parks.
In addition to the Clinton skate park’s design moving forward, the youth have also secured funding for the half-million-dollar project.
With the help of Catherine Taggart-Ross, former vice president of Surrattsville High School’s PTSA, the group worked with local government representatives to receive a $250,000 grant for the skate park under House bill HB 724 that would have to be repaid if the money was not matched by June 2016.
The M-NCPPC will match the grant, Herring said.
This week the skaters will continue making a list of what they would like in the park. The project’s landscape architect, Jeff Newhouse, said he hopes to have a basic design for the park ready by the next time the groups meet, which has not yet been determined.
“I’m excited about the project,” Newhouse said. “We have a real opportunity to do something special.”
The design will also incorporate “green” elements, such as benches made of recyclable materials. The building process will include environmental measures such as bioretention areas and using the landscape as part of the design.
“We want to use the topography as part of the design,” Newhouse said. “We don’t look at it as a hindrance.”
Originally published at The Gazette.