Gypsum commits funding for new skate park design
Town of Gypsum/Courtesy photo
The Gypsum Town Council voted unanimously to commit up to $40,000 for the design of a new outdoor skatepark in Gypsum.
The current park was built in 2001, and is located right near the Gypsum Public Library. The idea for a new park was originally brought before the council in January by a group of students from Red Canyon High School, receiving a positive reaction from council members and starting the process of moving forward with the project.
Town Manager Jeremy Rietmann said that while the current park is still functional, there is considerable room for improvement that will enhance the skatepark experience for everyone.
“It served a good purpose for the time it’s been here, but it lacks a lot of learning from the skateboard community that’s happened in the last 20 years,” Rietmann said. “Building a park with good, progressive features that can help people learn across a lot of different skill sets, spreading people out and creating areas for people of all skill levels, and making it so that you can have a better atmosphere and see some mentorship happening between age groups.”
Rietmann said that he has been working closely with the students that originally presented the idea to help advance the process, and is using the park as an opportunity to teach the students about how local government works. This spring, he worked directly with the students to draft a request for proposal for the park.
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“I sketched out the basics, then went to a class out at Red Canyon that was composed of all these students interested in this project and just taught a little class, very basic, about what an RFP is and why a government does that to make sure that they are spending money effectively,” Rietmann said. “Then had them help us draft the RFP to try and get them engaged in the process.”
Last week, Rietmann attended the Town Council meeting to request a funding commitment for the next stage of the process. All members of the council voted in favor of committing up to $40,000 for the design this fall.
“That allows me and the staff to release this document, go through an RFP proposal and solicit bids from private skateboard design firms, and know that there will be money available to support it,” Rietmann said.
Once the design is complete, the council will reconvene to determine how much funding needs to be allocated toward the project in the 2023 budget. With the unpredictable fluctuation in material costs, it is hard to estimate what the total cost of construction will be next year, but Rietmann said that the average price of a standard 10,000 square-foot park is around half a million dollars. With inflation, fuel costs and supply chain issues, council members said they predict it will cost closer to $650,000.
The location of the new park has yet to be determined and will be a part of the design process this fall.
