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Officials say Greenfield’s new skateboard park is drawing visitors; city to pursue parking, shelter and fundraising
Summary
Council members and staff described heavy early use of the new turf skateboard park, reported successful drainage performance after recent rain, and discussed next steps including DOT coordination for a municipally owned parking lot, a proposed shelter and phased fundraising for roughly $250,000 in future work.
During the June 5 special meeting the presiding officer gave a detailed update on the new turf skateboard park, saying families and visiting skaters from multiple states attended before the park formally opened and that professional skaters including John Worthington and Lance Mountain had visited to skate and advise.
Council and staff highlighted the park’s drainage system, funded in part by the stormwater utility, saying heavy rain produced no standing water in the bowls the morning after the storm. The presiding officer noted one bowl reaches roughly 10–12 feet in depth and said groundwater remains an engineering consideration to address when the adjacent parking lot is constructed.
Officials said the park’s parking lot is part of the developer agreement with Cobalt and that DOT approvals and legal/engineering reviews are a near-term dependency. The presiding officer said DOT reviews could be completed in about 30 days, and that Cobalt will build the parking lot under terms that included a reduced park-and-ride stall count. The presiding officer stated both figures discussed in the meeting record: the DOT lowered a previously proposed 150 stalls to 32 dedicated park-and-ride stalls, and separately the parking configuration would total "over 80" stalls with about 30 dedicated to park-and-ride use.
The presiding officer credited city staff — naming Jeff Katz, Mike Dermody and DPW crews — and estimated the city saved "probably a half a million to $750,000" by using DPW crews for site work. The council discussed creating a nonprofit "Friends of the Turf" to raise capital for phase 2 (estimated at about $250,000), which could fund a shelter similar to the structure at Konkle Park, permanent restrooms and other amenities.
Logistics for an upcoming weekend event were discussed: the council recorded plans for porta-potties (14 on site for the event), four food trucks, a city tent selling shirts and temporary parking on grass and nearby lots; the council also noted a regional interstate closure could increase local traffic and affect neighborhood streets.
No formal council action was taken on the park improvements or fundraising at the June 5 meeting; council direction in the record focused on coordination with DOT, completing parking-lot engineering and exploring nonprofit fundraising to support phase 2 improvements.
