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October 27, 2002Legendary boarder lends help to park- Tony Hawk Foundation has pledges $25,000 to the Gaylord skate parkBy DAN SANDERSONRecord-Eagle staff writer GAYLORD - Fund-raising efforts for a Gaylord ramp park have taken their final leap - renowned skate boarder Tony Hawk has donated to the cause. The Tony Hawk Foundation informed Gaylord officials it would give the city a $25,000 grant for its ramp park, which will be used by skateboarders, in-line skaters and BMX bicyclists. That pushes the city just over the $120,000 minimum to bid the project, with $120,718 in funds and pledged commitments now in hand. "This is huge - it's absolutely huge," said Betty Moore, the owner of Jimmy's Jukebox and Jet's Pizza, who is leasing land to the city behind her Wisconsin Avenue business for the park. "Now we have the bare bones to go forward." The city had hoped to start construction on the skate park this summer, but fund-raising had come to a standstill. The $25,000 from the Tony Hawk Donation is the largest commitment to the project besides the $50,000 the city put forward, said Joe Duff, Gaylord's city manager. Steve Hawk, Tony Hawk's brother and executive director of the foundation, said the foundation awards $100,000 in grants per quarter, but only gives out one $25,000 grant. "We've just been flooded with applications over the last year," Steve Hawk said. "Gaylord won the big prize this quarter and that was largely due to the large amount of effort and work done in the community. That's what we look for is a large grassroots effort." According to the foundation's Web site, the mission of the Tony Hawk Foundation is to seek to foster lasting improvements in society, with an emphasis on helping children. Through grants and other charitable donations, the foundation supports programs focusing on the creation of public skateboard parks and other children's causes. Finding a place for youth to skate has been an issue in the Alpine Village over the last four years, after the city banned skating downtown. Other church-run skate parks also folded due to a lack of financial support. Now, the city has to send the Tony Hawk Foundation lease agreements with Moore and other paperwork to secure the funds. In addition, Duff said he will contract North Central Excavating, a Gaylord firm that has pledged in-kind work to the project, to see if the contractor can fit the work into its busy schedule. If a black top cannot be laid before Nov. 14, Duff said the work will be done next spring. Youth will be involved in selecting ramps for the park and vendors for the equipment. It was estimated that the city will spend about $104,000 for the ramps. "We are just tremendously excited," said Duff, who spearheaded the project with a group of business officials and insisted on youth involvement in fundraising. "We just couldn't be happier because we've been working on this a long time." Donations will continue to be sought to pay for picnic tables, benches, trash receptacles, landscaping and other equipment for the park. "Hopefully, the rest of the money is going to come in easier because the park will actually be going, which is key," said Christian Janssens, co-owner of Latitude 45, a Gaylord bicycle and skate shop, who helped raise funds for the park. "These ramp parks have been popping all over the country in smaller towns and we want to give the kids a place to go." Dan Sanderson is the reporter for Otsego, Crawford and Cheboygan counties. He can be reached at (989) 731-9684, or at dansand@freeway.net |
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