by Eric Ginsburg
Two companies, Pillar Designs and American Ramp Company, have submitted proposals to be the designer and builder of Greensboro’s planned skatepark.
Proposals were due last week, planning and project management division manager Nasha McCray said.
Pillar Designs, an Arizona-based company, has built multiple skateparks in North Carolina, including ones in Cherokee, Raleigh and Durham. Pillar submitted its proposal with Artisan Skateparks, which is based in Kitty Hawk, and Adira Construction, according to skatepark advisory team member Fabio Andre Camara.
American Ramp Company, based in Missouri, is the other contender for the project, and McCray said she it has built parks in the state including in Winston-Salem.
The proposals will go to the city’s skatepark advisory team, which includes skaters and parents among others, for a recommendation to take to city council. There will also be public input meetings, McCray said, with the goal of beginning construction before the end of 2015.
The skatepark is planned for Latham Park off of Hill Street, not far from downtown Greensboro and adjacent to Greenhill Cemetery. The park already has a baseball diamond, tennis courts and a basketball court. McCray said companies were asked to consider sites in the park closer to the basketball court and Hill Street as well as another near the tennis courts. The city also plans a “skate dot,” a smaller skating feature, at the Glenwood Recreation Center, McCray said.
Voters approved a a $575,000 bond referendum for a skatepark in 2006.
Join the First Amendment Society, a membership that goes directly to funding TCB‘s newsroom.
We believe that reporting can save the world.
The TCB First Amendment Society recognizes the vital role of a free, unfettered press with a bundling of local experiences designed to build community, and unique engagements with our newsroom that will help you understand, and shape, local journalism’s critical role in uplifting the people in our cities.
All revenue goes directly into the newsroom as reporters’ salaries and freelance commissions.
Big fat “NO!” to American Ramp Company.
Please, please, please… No American Ramp Company. Artisan/Pillar has built the majority of the great parks in NC and SC. American Ramp Company builds junk.
Artisan/Pillar have built some of the best parks in the Carolinas. American Ramp Company builds junk. Just ask anyone who knows anything about skateboarding.
Please no American Ramp Company! That would be such a waste of money!
Team Pain is another great option. Apex park is really well done.