The Kenneth Benjamin Fleet Skate Park was demolished last year due to safety concerns and vandalism.
SANDWICH – The goal of designers working on plans for a new skate park in Sandwich is to create a space that will be usable for the whole community.
Designer Kanten Russell with Stantec, the engineering firm chosen unanimously by selectmen to design a new skate park in September, presented slides of previously constructed parks at a November 10 meeting.
The proposed skate park is being planned for the area where the new Public Safety Complex will be built at the Quaker Meetinghouse and Cotuit Roads in South Sandwich.
“We want to make sure we at least allow for enough space or buffer areas to expand other adjacent amenities around the skate park in the future,” Russell said.
The new park will be designed to encompass an open, visible area that will be used by more than just skate boarders, unlike the town’s previous skate park.
The town demolished the Kenneth Benjamin Fleet Skate Park in the spring due to safety concerns and vandalism. The park was located in an isolated, wooded area behind Stop & Shop.
“Sometimes planning the location of the park is just as important as what goes in the skate park,” Russell said.
The park will be designed to have a cost between $250,000 and $500,000.
Russell said some additional fundraising would be needed to have the cost closer to $500,000.
Having the park built on the public safety complex property would also help to save money.
“They are already doing soils testing, surveying and other things that we can utilize and not have to worry about additional fees to do those things for the skate park,” Russell said.
The designers also incorporate like to incorporate green technology and ideas into construction.
“Some of the skate parks we do even have rain gardens and skateable planters inside,” Russell said.
By BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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