The Town of Franklin went on record in July saying it would pursue building a skate park.
Initially Memorial (Jaycees) Park was the first choice for the skate park, with the area near the dog park on Phillips Street being another possible site. The county owns that property, so building a park there would require cooperation between the two government entities. It would also require more construction work.
It’s not often a local government has someone offer to raise funds and build a park. But that is what happened when J.E. Dunn, the company leading construction of the new hospital, showed up at a town meeting offering to build the skate park. The company is willing to get labor and materials donated and help raise money. But they need to do it before they leave town when the hospital is completed.
There has been a good showing of community support for a skate park. Skaters and their supporters they have packed both the Town Council and Board of Commissioners board rooms to make their case. The Sk828 group has raised more than $3,000 dollars for the project. Thousands of dollars can be saved with J.E. Dunn’s contributions.
At the Sept. 7 Town Council meeting, a representative from J.E. Dunn told the town they were ready to move dirt from the hospital site to use for the skate park but needed to know where to put it. That lead to a discussion about whether Memorial Park was the best site for the skate park. The Town Council continued its meeting on Sept. 13 and ultimately decided the Whitmire property would be the best location for the park.
Over and over we hear about the need for something for young people to do in town. Over and over we hear how the skaters need a safe place to skate so they are not on the public sidewalks or streets. Now is the time to make that happen.
We applaud the Town Council for coming to a decision that not only will offer skaters a safe, free place to enjoy their sport, but it also puts the Whitmire property to use after sitting vacant and unused since the town bought it nearly 17 years ago. With the recent addition of the disc golf course at the Whitmire property and now the skate park, the town will have another park for more residents to enjoy.
Now that the Town has finally decided to put the Whitmire property to use, there is no end to the ideas for utilizing that space. Maybe it can become home to a permanent farmer’s market pavilion that can also be a multi-use facility? An outdoor classroom?