Sharp Shinned Skatepark
Author: John Hahn, BCDC
I’m sure many of you have witnessed the construction and completion of the new skatepark in Townsend. 4500 square feet of beautifully sculpted concrete laid down by the artisans of the Evergreen Skateparks Construc¬tion Company.
Billy is the owner of Evergreen Skatepark Construction and skatepark designer aficionado. Catherine Coulon, Billy’s wife is the “take care of everything from the office” gal, and boy is she good at it. The entire crew was great to work with and did their job with integrity and a smile. They love what they do and it showed. They were also the first ones to try it out, making sure it skates great as shown in the drone picture below.
As soon as the last of the skatepark crew left (headed to Deer Lodge to build a 10,000 sq ft skatepark) and the legal signage was up, there were kids maneuvering through the bowls, over the jumps and traversing the humps, all with skateboards, scooters, bikes, roller skates and other contraptions and having a great time. All the feedback I’ve heard is that it’s super fun.
There is still some to do, replacing the irrigation sys¬tem, laying sod, and installing a permanent skatepark sign but the majority of work is done.
The Parks and Rec board has received approval from the City Council to build a 24’ x 27’ pavilion in the Northwest corner of Holloway Park, just north of the skatepark. They have also been approved for funding from the Broadwater County Trust Board (BCTB). Construction will begin some¬time this summer or fall. Picnic tables are also included in the budget for the pavilion as is the vaulted toilet, also funded by the Parks and Rec and BCTB. These are three nice additions to the park,
STOKE is planning on a big celebration to officially open the skatepark on August 13th. We are waiting till August as Jeff Ament, who contributed $50,000 to the skatepark, is on a European tour with his band Pearl Jam until the end of July. Jeff is anxious to come and share our celebration of the opening. Other officials will be here, such as Chris Bacon with the Montana Skatepark Association, another $50,000 contributor. Carla Amundson will also be donating funds to the skatepark as she and her group of kids started working on this over 20 years ago. She has kept these funds all these years in anticipation of this event. She is one happy camper.
Other people and organi¬zations who have helped or supported this project include STOKE, The City Council and Mayor Mike Evans, the Broad¬water County Trust Board and the county commissioners, Tim Rauser, City Foreman, Lee Lewis, Eric Crush, and Paul Rauser.
Thanks go out to Watson Irrigation for donating drainage pipe; Al Bodle donated geotextile fabric for use in the drainage system; Rick Anderson, Lone Mountain Transport, supplied an enormous amount of lime rock gravel; Hahn Ranch donated extra topsoil and installed the drainage area; Capital Concrete supplied the shock-crete and provided a 15% discount for the project; Aaron Christensen and Tri-Rivers Construction contributed scrap lumber for concrete forms; George Jenkins for attempting a skatepark sign; Clint Watson who wanted to help with our sign but ran out of time at the school; Montana Hydraulics who will be making the laser cut sign; Pat Plant¬enberg and his crew moved small trees that were in the way of the skatepark and helped with landscaping and all other supporters. Sodworks will be providing sod. Adam Six and the Parks and Rec board provided advice and amenities.
There were many excited and anxious kids helping along the way, including Will Lynde and Bastien Grandy. Cheers to Bridger Nunn for coming up with the winning name for the skatepark and all the kids who participated in the name contest. I’m sure there will be many more thank yous given before we are all said and done.
A special thanks to all the kids and young adults who have been patiently waiting until this project came to fruition.
This Skatepark is for you!
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PhotoCredit: John Hahn, BCDC
Image 1 Caption: Sharp Shinned Skatepark installation staff have fun testing the fruit of their labors!
