USPS Publication Number 16300
T h is C om mu n it y Ne w sp ap er is a publ ic at ion of Es c a mbi a-S a nt a R os a B a r A ss o c i at ion
Se r v i ng t he Fi r st Jud icia l Ci rcu it Section A, Page 1
Vol. 22, No. 26
V isit T he S ummation W eekly O nline : SummationWeekly.com
June 29, 2022
1 Section, 12 Pages
P E N S A C O L A’ S F I R S T O U T D O O R S K ATE PA RK B ECOME S A RE A LIT Y by Morgan Cole Renderings courtesy of Pivot Custom
A
fter winning unanimous approval for a budget increase to move forward with construction f rom the Pensacola City Council Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), the plans for Pensacola’s first outdoor skate park have now become a reality.
On May 9, the CRA approved a $380,000 budget increase for the new skate park in a 5-0 vote, with the council making a final vote to award the $2.08 million construction contract to Bear General Contractors, LLC based out of Pensacola. The total cost for the new skate park project comes in at a little over $2.1 million. “We put together masking for the council to move that forward; we’ve done a lot of engineering, a lot of study and we’re ready to go and at this point we’ve committed to it,” Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson said. “I hate when anything goes more expensive, but that’s where we are with almost everything we’re bidding right now. And I don’t think we’re alone in that; I think everybody’s experiencing that.” During the city council meeting, the mayor stated that a skate park is an amenity not currently available in Pensacola, adding that it needs to be included as part of the Hollice T. Williams Park. “We told the county that is going to be our commitment to the Hollice T. Williams Park, as we look for the county, and RESTORE and NERDS monies from the state to take up most of the rest of Hollice T. Williams,” Mayor Robinson explained. “From this standpoint, I really would like to see us move this project forward. Obviously, the amenities that we’re already invested in are the ones we need to keep moving forward.” Over the last two years, as the skate park has worked its way through the city and county’s design process, construction and labor costs have continued to rise. The initial construction budget was set for $1.7 million, but due to increases in construction costs and labor since the project’s original bidding, the current project bid came in about 10 percent higher than expected, an overage council members will cover with combined interest found within the city’s CRA budget. “It’s been a long and difficult
journey to this park becoming a reality,” Councilwoman Sherri Myers said. “We really need this park so that people in our community can skate the way they want to.” Over the course of recent public discourse concerning the skate park numerous individuals have mentioned that there has traditionally been a lack of space where skaters are allowed to skate, with some recounting run-ins with law enforcement over the issue. “Providing a designated place for skaters to safely practice skateboarding is among one of my primary reasons for supporting the project,” Brahier said. “I appreciate us creating and having a place for this type of activity.” The new skate park, officially named the Blake Doyle Community Park, will be located under Interstate 110 just south of the Pensacola Police Department between Jackson and La Rua streets on the same block as the existing From the Ground Up Community Garden. The park is named in honor of Pensacola skateboarder Blake Doyle, who lost his life to a tragic accident in 2015 after being hit by a train. Other speakers that presented comments during the meeting spoke about how the sport of skateboarding and similar activities help build a sense of community and create friendships among young people from all walks of life. Local resident and skate park supporter, Leason Dancaescu said he grew up in Pensacola. As a teenager in the 1990s and early 2000s, the city treated skateboarders as criminals, he said, but the city has come a long way since then. “If we don’t provide the youth of our city, our country and our area a safe place to get them off the streets to allow them to recreate safely and in a positive manner in a sport that promotes creativity and self-reliance, I feel we’re just going to be pushing people
back into the stair sets and ledges on private property,” Dancaescu explained. The skate park is expected to serve as one of the first major developments in an overarching $25 million project for the 1.9-mile corridor along Hollice T. Williams Park, connecting the neighborhood around the I-110 overpass with downtown. The design plans for the Hollice T. Williams Park project will transform the underutilized 1-110 underpass into an innovative urban green space rooted in stormwater management, urban nature-scape, early education, cultural heritage and public art. The park’s new design will help to improve pedestrian and bicycle connectivity to Downtown Pensacola and the waterfront, and integrate and leverage existing features including the Hunter Municipal Pool and the From The Ground Up Community Garden. The overall design, which is a joint effort between the city and Escambia County, will include recreational opportunities such as youth sport fields, a multipurpose amphitheater, fitness trails, playgrounds, picnic areas, a public pool that already stands on the property, the new skate park and green spaces. The 23,0000-square-foot skate park will include one snake-style bowl and another more traditional style bowl for skaters of all types. The site will run from east to west and feature a more than 12 foot drop. The west side of the skate park will include a “railroad” (a training device for practicing skateboarding tricks such as grinds or board slides) that carries a 50-foot easement to the edge of the skate park. Design plans also include a street course featuring multiple paths with different terrains. Inside the skate area is a multi-use amphitheater zone that can be used for various events or for park guests to have space to sit and observe. Original plans call for a restroom and classroom space to be built along with the skate park, but in order to keep costs down, the restroom facility was not included under the current construction contract approved by the council. The plans also lack designated parking, however
Councilman Casey Jones pointed out that the area beneath the interstate where the park will be located has ample street parking for visitors. Assistant City Manager David Forte also assured council members that multiple restroom facilities would eventually be constructed and available for use since the skate park is part of the larger Hollice T. Williams Stormwater Park project, being managed by Escambia County.
I know if we’d had a positive, safe place to practice what we loved to do, that I would have actually stuck with it,and it really would have kept me out of a lot of trouble over the years.” The skate park project has been in the works since 2015. The city backed the project, and the decision was ultimately made to include it as part of the design for the $25 million Hollice T. Williams Park project being administered by Escambia County under the RESTORE Act. While the inclusion of the state park in the project made it more likely it would become a reality, the park’s design ended up having to be incorporated into the overall project, which has caused significant delays for the project. Plans for the Blake Doyle Community Park are the brainchild of local real estate agent, activist and skater Jon Shell. Shell said that he began skateboarding when he was just 10 years old, but when a local skate park closed a few years later, there weren’t many places left to skate in Pensacola. Like skateboarders in many other communities, Shell and his friends had to find their own places to skate using stairs, handrails and ledges throughout downtown Pensacola. After being chased off by police and busi-
ness owners numerous times, he decided to hang up his skateboard. “I know if we’d had a positive, safe place to practice what we loved to do, that I would have actually stuck with it,” Shell said. “And it really would have kept me out of a lot of trouble over the years.” In 2009, Shell eventually moved to Orlando to attend the University of Central Florida, where he discovered the city’s abundance of public skate parks and picked up skateboarding again. As he watched downtown Pensacola’s growth from afar, Shell wondered why a similar public park couldn’t be created in Pensacola. The idea stuck with him, and in 2015, after returning back home to Pensacola, Shell wrote a blog post outlining his big idea. When that idea began to pick up some steam within the community, Shell was determined to provide a safe environment for skaters and formed Upward Intuition, a nonprofit whose mission is to inspire the next generation to affect positive change in Pensacola. Under the Upward Intuition banner, Shell put together a skate team of area kids and began rallying support around his skate park vision to be named in honor of his late friend Blake Doyle. It came with a hefty price tag of $1.25 million. Shell raised initial funding close to $500,000, including a $100,000 grant from Gannett’s “A Community Thrives” fund, but once the city and county got involved, the project took on some delays due to the procurement process. Nearly seven years and countless hours of work later, Shell’s project is now fully-funded and the city is expected to move forward with construction sometime in the coming year. It feels great to have so many people that share the same vision and all come together in an effort to help make this project become a reality,” Shell said. To learn more about the Blake Doyle Community Park and to view the renderings of the design plans for the skate park, visit upwardintuition.com. •
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