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Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Skaters weigh in on design for skateboard park
Continued from page 1
location west of the city Activity Center
at Delano Hitch Park, replacing what is
now an area of horse-shoe pits. However,
another area of consideration is Liberty
Street and Clinton Street, currently a
popular spot for skaters. “Skate parks on
the riverfront are too cold,” Cino said.
“Having it on the river won’t bring more
skaters,” said Shawn Miller.
“I would love to see something central,”
said skate mom Brienne Cliadakis-Gadea,
who drives more than a half an hour to
bring her son to skate parks in Nyack and
Accord.
Cliadakis-Gadea said she wants the
park to be suitable to younger skaters, as
well. “When this thing comes, it’s going
to be huge,” said her 9-year-old son Nate
Gadea.
Once built, a lot of skaters will visit the
skate park from outside the city limits,
Cino asserted. “You’re going to get a lot of
kids from Beacon, New Paltz…” he said.
“Skaters know Newburgh because of the
skate park at the Avalon.”
He was talking about the Avalon,
the now-closed/defunct roller skating
arena that (fomented, forged, cemented,
Christmas on Broadway
Skate boarders meet with city planners at 2 Alices Coffee Lounge to discuss the city’s future
skate park.
Santa poses with Newburgh City manager Michael Ciaravino and family and friends at the
base of the City of Newburgh Christmas Tree, which was lighted last Wednesday. Additional
photo on page 4.
established) Newburgh’s reputation as a
skaters’ haven. Famed skateboarder Jim
Greco helped put Newburgh on the map
as a skaters’ city in the 90s, said Jackson.
“Newburgh has a reputation and Dunkin’
blew it up even more,” said Jackson.
The rear of the Dunkin’ Donuts location
on Broadway was a beloved skating spot
until it was dismantled a couple of years
ago. Cino described it as a “DIY spot,”
where skaters used cinder blocks to build
ramps in a do-it-yourself park.
“There was a big concrete foundation,”
Cino said. “A lot of the scene generated
from that particular area. It was a place
everybody could be themselves.”
The skaters talked about the skateboard
park in Walden, a popular, pre-fabricated
skate park build about a decade ago.
“The prefabricated parks are not what
we’re going for at all,” said Shawn Miller.
“Everyone in Walden is asking when the
Newburgh park will be built.”
The park design was created by
Grindline Skateparks, said city Director
of Planning and Development Deidre
Glenn. However, the project was tabled
after the tragic shooting of Keyshan Gayle
earlier this year and CDBG funds meant
for the park were reallocated. “They said,
‘go back and reframe it,’” said Glenn.
So, the design will be scaled down to
a park anticipated to cost approximately
$325,000, said Glenn. The cost will be paid
for through a combination of CDBG funds
and a $100,000 grant from the Dormitory
Authority of the State of New York. The
design and environmental review for
the park is already complete, said city
Planner Ali Church.
The design is expected to be completed
in the next couple of months, she said.
Then the park construction project will be
rebid. “We’re going to work on a redesign
to remove the most expensive elements,”
Glenn said.
She reassured the skaters that the skate
park was “a priority” for the city. “The big
thing is finding qualified builders,” she
said. The park will be constructed next
fall, at the earliest, said Ali Church.