Albany skate park design public meeting
Skaters at the blue banks this past spring.
There city of Albany has a meeting lined up June 15 to gather public input about the proposed skate park in Washington Park. It's at the Washington Park Lakehouse and starts at 6:30 pm.
Word that the city was thinking about building a skate park first popped up in the fall of 2014. And at a packed public meeting in November of that year, city officials mentioned there was an outline of a plan to build the park at four rundown tennis courts in Washington Park. Those courts -- known as "the blue banks" because they're blue and tiered -- already serve as a de facto skating spot. (It's not technically allowed there, but stop by almost any evening and you'll see plenty of people skateboarding there.)
In the time since, the city was awarded a $100k grant for the project via the state Dormitory Authority. And this past March the city issued a request for proposals seeking bids for engineering services related to the park project. The RFP mentions that the city has a $200k budget for the project, and the document includes a diagram that points to some potential features of the skate park. (The RFP is embedded after the jump if you're curious.)
Albany Go Skate Day: The annual Go Skate Day is set for Saturday, June 18 at the Washington Park blue banks.
Say Something!
We'd really like you to take part in the conversation here at All Over Albany. But we do have a few rules here. Don't worry, they're easy. The first: be kind. The second: treat everyone else with the same respect you'd like to see in return. Cool? Great, post away. Comments are moderated so it might take a little while for your comment to show up. Thanks for being patient.
Comments
Finally!
Does anyone know who won the contract and if they have experience in designing skate-parks?
I suppose I'll have to swing by on Wednesday and find out...
... said J on Jun 13, 2016 at 9:40 AM | link
While I'm all for a skate park and think it's long overdue, I can't seem to wrap my head around the fact that the grant for it is coming from the Dormitory Authority. Why they have that kind of money available for something like this is just one of those bizarre NY state budget issues I don't understand. Of course, I can't really seem to identify what their mission actually is so it shouldn't surprise me.
... said Kate on Jun 13, 2016 at 11:23 AM | link
@kate
Ignore the "dormitory" word. It's outdated and a holdover from the days when DASNY used to build dorms exclusively. Today the agency is one of two State authorizes that facilities and finances public construction projects through the sale of tax-exempt bonds. It's a like big bank for public projects.
... said daleyplanit on Jun 13, 2016 at 1:13 PM | link
Not to worry Albany doesn't act we hold meetings and form committees about a plan, them more meetings and nothing happens.
... said Bill on Jun 13, 2016 at 2:17 PM | link
@daleyplanit
Thanks for the explanation, I really appreciate it.
... said Kate on Jun 15, 2016 at 9:54 AM | link
I attended that 2014 meeting and yes, it was packed. The room was full of young skaters who were enthusiastic and engaged in a very positive way. And even some oldsters who wanted to see it happen.
The folks from the City (Sheehan appointees) were hopelessly incompetent and basically stood there with their jaws dropped, having no idea what to say or do.
I am hoping someone a bit more experienced is taking over this project now. They should re-engage all those young skaters to help with both design and construction. There's a great community-building opportunity here if someone is smart enough to seize it.
... said Stan on Jun 15, 2016 at 12:40 PM | link