Henry County moves to partner with Tony Hawk Foundation to add skate parks; commissioners voice support

The Henry County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 4 considered a resolution to partner with the Tony Hawk Foundation to bring skate parks to the county and heard from local residents who will lead the effort.

Parks and Recreation staff introduced the resolution, saying the Tony Hawk Foundation reached out after reviewing the county’s parks-and-recreation master plan and that the partnership would support the county’s 5- to 10-year capital goals. Staff named local residents — including Darby (a professional wrestler who said he has lived in Henry County since 2017) and Kenny Bunch (a longtime skateboarder and local business owner from Locust Grove) — as volunteer leaders working with the foundation.

Darby said he and Bunch built backyard skate features and want to provide a permanent public skate facility because the area currently lacks one. “There’s no skate park in this area,” Darby said; he described an April fundraising climb of Mount Everest to benefit the project. Bunch said skateboarding helped broaden his life opportunities and said the project is intended to give underprivileged youth similar access to recreation.

Commissioners praised the proposal. A commissioner tied the project to the county’s parks-and-recreation master plan and said it would expose “thousands of kids” to skateboarding opportunities. Parks staff recommended approval; a motion to approve the resolution was made and seconded. County and foundation representatives posed for photos immediately after the presentation.

The transcript records a motion and second to approve the resolution; the meeting record does not include a roll-call tally in the provided transcript excerpt. Commissioners expressed support and the county manager and parks staff described the effort as consistent with the master plan and expected to be implemented over the coming years.