Jun. 8—It's been more than a decade since J.D. Turner first envisioned a skate park in Reading.
Turner, the owner of Holistic Skateshop in West Reading, began advocating for a dedicated skateboarding park in the city after talking with his customers.
Though grateful for any opportunity to practice their skills, area skateboarders were frustrated by the lack of advanced challenges offered locally. The prefabricated plastic and metal ramps found in the few local public skate parks inherently limit certain tricks.
Turner of Mohnton and the others longed for a professional-style skating surface with bowls, ramps and other features made of poured concrete.
After years of fundraising and advocacy, their dream is set to become a reality.
City Council has awarded a $1.6 million contract to Grindline Skateparks of Seattle to build the cast-in-place concrete skating surfaces in the planned park at 601 Canal St.
"It's going to be really exciting once they actually start construction," Turner said.
The award to Grindline was the final hurdle crossed in clearing the way for the project start.
Council this year also awarded a $744,890 contract to Land-Tech Enterprises, Warrington, Bucks County, for landscaping and construction of a parking lot and other non-skate-surface features in the 22,000-square-foot park.
Funding for the two contracts — totaling nearly $2.2 million — will come from state grants totaling $290,000 and $700,000 in city capital improvement project funds. The remaining $1.2 million will be made up of American Rescue Plan Act funds.
The ARPA distribution is a fraction of the more than $10 million earmarked by council last year for improvements to parks and public properties.
While a construction start date has not been set, David Anspach, city capital projects manager, said he expects a date to be announced soon.
Once the project gets underway, he said, it should take about 18 months to complete.
"I am excited about it," Turner said. "I've been at this for more than 10 years."
An avid skateboarder, Turner was just 23 in 2012 when he opened his shop and began championing a public skate park. Supplied with only a dream, he pitched the idea to anyone willing to listen. And city administrators were, after Turner and a handful of enthusiasts founded the Reading Skatepark Association in 2016.
The grassroots group works to facilitate the growth of free public concrete outdoor skate parks.
The association's efforts were instrumental in laying the groundwork and securing grant funding for the initial designs by Grindline, Anspach said.