Mayor Jay Gillian on Thursday reconfirmed his commitment to rebuilding the Ocean City skateboard park that was dismantled in 2011, and City Council approved a plan that calls for spending $250,000 on it.
But he released no information on where the park will be located, when it will be constructed or what form the park will take.
A committee of elected officials (Councilmen Michael DeVlieger, Antwan McClellan and Michael Allegretto), city employees and local skaters continues to develop a plan for the park.
DeVlieger said on Friday that plans possibly could be released for public review within the next few weeks.
He helped put together a group of representatives of the Ocean City skating community who envision a park design that is “radically different” than that of the old park at Sixth Street and Boardwalk. The new park would cater more toward “carvers” and less to street skaters. The group envisions a concrete park that includes a bowl and a snake run. But it also would incorporate elements for street skaters, he said.
“This is a park where our grandchildren will be able to skate when we’re done,” DeVlieger said.
The cost of the park could exceed the allocated $250,000, and the committee is looking at outside sources to secure other funding.
The former skate park included more temporary ramps and rails that city officials said posed a safety hazard when they dismantled it in 2011.
A group of skaters, old and young, spoke in favor of the park and thanked the city for its work during public comment at Thursday’s City Council meeting.
“I’d like to have a good budget on it,” Ocean City Intermediate School student Ricky Hardin said. “Not a low budget.”
