Memorial Park may soon be the location for a new skate park. At the July 6 Franklin Town Council meeting, the council members agreed to begin preliminary planning and design work for a skate park at the West Main Street site.
Skate park supporters packed the town board room at the meeting in May asking the town to consider building a skate park. At that meeting, the council members agreed to look at potential sites and meet with the skaters to get input on what the park should include. Since that time, JE Dunn, the construction company that is building the new hospital, approached the town with an offer to help build the park. The company will raise money and provide free or discounted labor and materials.
“We’re here, we want to do something to help the community,” Steve Suttles, superintendent for the hospital project, told the council at the June meeting.
Suttles and Project Engineer Anders Ike were back at the July meeting. They had looked at two potential sites – Memorial Park (Jaycees Park) on West Main Street and the old drive-in property next to the dog park on Phillips Street.
Suttles said less preparation work would be required at Memorial Park. “It would be easier, quicker, and probably less money you would have to spend.” He added it also would be easier to make Memorial Park ADA accessible.
The old drive-in property, which is owned by the county, would require more work moving soil and trees.
Although a portion of Memorial Park is prone to flooding, Suttles said they could work around that area. The skate park would be designed with the contour of the land and would not be built as a bowl to help prevent water from ponding. “You’d have a swimming pool instead of a skate park,” Suttles said.
Council Member David Culpepper said his first choice be the Phillips Street site because it would allow for other amenities, such as a walking path, to be built as part of the park. He said it would also be more convenient for students coming from the high school.
Suttles said while they were in Highlands looking at the skate park there, some skaters from Franklin were there, and they talked to them about what they liked or disliked about the park. The skate park in Highlands is about 5,000 square feet and the one in Waynesville is about 8,500 square feet. Suttle thinks they could build a 6,000-7,000-square-foot-park at the Memorial Park location.
Once the decision on the site is finalized, design work can begin. Ike said the design of the park would be influenced by the location. The estimates for design work range from $15,000-$20,000. Ike said he would contact a company that helped design a skate park in Spartanburg, S.C. The town can also contact others who could offer design expertise.
“There is a standard for skate parks,” Suttles said. Vice Mayor Jack Horton also suggested getting input from the people who would be using the park.
“Our goal is to deliver a skate park the town wants,” Ike said.
The council unanimously voted to move forward with Memorial Park as the first choice for a skate park, with the property on Phillips Street as a second choice. If for some reason, the Memorial Park site does not work out, the town would need to work with the county since it owns the property on Phillips Street.