Our Story
In the summer of 2013 we started a campaign to construct a skate park in Market Square Park in the City of Frankfort. We have initiated a tremendous amount of research, discussion and support associated with this wonderful opportunity for our community. The City of Frankfort has supported us in this endeavor and has included the construction of a skate park with the Recreation Master Plan that was recently adopted in March of 2015.
We feel strongly that a skate park in our community will promote a safer environment that will allow people of all ages to congregate through fellowship and physical activity. There are numerous mental and physical benefits associated with a skate park. The sport of skateboarding is becoming more popular each year with many social and economic enhancement opportunities resulting from the development of a skate park within a community. Skate parks promote vibrant, healthy communities that are similar to other athletic facilities and are becoming more of a tourist destination catalyst for resort-based communities.
Through our two-year long study and fact-finding mission associated with the development of skate parks all over the country, we established a relationship with Evergreen Skate Park Company out of Portland, Oregon. Evergreen Skate Park Company is highly recommended and is one of the top 10 skate park builders in the country. They have built several skate parks in Michigan, which we have visited on numerous occasions. We have maintained communication with the Evergreen Skate Parks Company and they recently developed a preliminary design concept that will meet the needs of the community with an established budget of $120,000.00. Also, we believe that the Evergreen Skate Park Company will design a skate park that will blend in with the existing features of Market Square Park and develop a skate park that will be symbolic of the natural beauty that we have in this community.
We have initiated fundraising and have partnered with the City of Frankfort toward the goal of generating the necessary funds to initiate construction in the summer of 2015. A private donor has declared support of this project and has charged us with the task of generating as much of the funding as possible, whereas she will match each dollar raised in order to enable us to achieve our goal of $120,000.00. Currently. through a grant that the City of Frankfort received from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians and other fundraising endeavors, the City of Frankfort currently has $11,500.00 on-hand that will be utilized toward the donor match.
