New “Wheels” Park Adds to Willow Creek

Excavation Work is Underway

Team Pain is in the house! Well, our town at least. As of this week, April 9, the professional skate park design team arrived in Lamar, along with the awaited final materials. Currently, Craig Brooks, Chief Building Officer for the City of Lamar and Contractual Representative for the building portion of this project, has overseen the completion of GeoTech services (soil testing), temporary fencing, professional signage, temporary water, temporary electric, and a finalized contract. A tentative schedule has been agreed upon, and if everything goes to plan, Team Pain along with the help of others from the City of Lamar, will contractually have 150 calendar days to complete this 10,000+ square foot structure. In southeastern Colorado, there is only one other skate park and that is located in La Junta. “Our skate park will always stand out from any other park, because ours has been designed by a team of professional skate boarders,” said Brooks. Team Pain has been perfecting the design of the ideal skate parks for municipal government agencies, communities, private sector and professional skate boarders all around the world. They specialize in three parks- concrete skate park facilities, indoor wood parks, and specialty custom parks.

Earth Moving in the Bowl

“We are calling it a wheels park, because there will be more than just skates in use,” Rick Akers, Head of Lamar Parks and Recreation, stated. He also mentioned that one way citizens and park users can help maintain this 10,000 square foot park is simply picking up after yourself during your visit. Many times people will forget or leave their water bottles, candy wrappers, and other debris on the ground. After a little time, this will pile up on the bottoms of our fences/gates, and the classiness and freshness of our park will be depreciated. “This park has everything everyone is looking for in a skate park, so I hope that we respect and maintain it,” Akers stated. This park will be under the same curfew laws as all other parks maintained by the City of Lamar. The park will open in the mornings at 4:30, and come to a close at 10:30 every night.

The park is sixty-five feet long, and not a single tree will be removed. This is an average size, where parks as big as 40,000 square feet are constructed and as little as 2,000 square feet as well. It will reach depths of six and a half feet, and will be able to comfortably provide 50-75 skaters room to skate at one time.

Students all over Lamar and surrounding areas are excited for this new improvement. A majority of students at each school were asked if the new park would interest them, and if so, how often do they think they would visit. Students from Washington Elementary confirmed that almost every student out of 279 will be enjoying the new park. Parkview Elementary, Lamar Middle School, and Lamar High School stated that a majority of their students will be using this park frequently.

If anybody is looking to pick up a new hobby, now would be the time! Check out your local retailers such as J&N Shoes and Mr. D’s, and the newly opened Hometown Sports; both located on South Main Street. These carriers hold shoes, socks, and padding that could be beneficial to you. Though these carriers do not have any skateboards currently, they have stated they are considering different options to meet the upcoming demand in the community. Hometown Sports does carry used rollerblades, skates, and other miscellaneous items that could be used to your advantage this summer.

This desire for the park was brought to the attention of adults by students of this community. Adults want children of this community to feel empowered, and to know they have a voice which is heard and valued.

By Bobby Bastian, Staff Reporter