The town of Franklin will be celebrating the grand opening of a brand new skatepark this Fall and after a unanimous vote, Monday night approved Artisan Skateparks to complete the project.
The initial cost of the project was quoted as being $294,750, but with town crews being able to do the needed site grading, a cost savings of $32,500, the total project cost will be $262,250.
Franklin Town Manager Amie Owens informed members of the town board Monday night that around half of the funds needed for the project, $101,674.74, has already been raised.
The more than $100k raised for the project so far includes a $35,000 commitment from the Macon County Board of Commissioners, a $25,000 contribution from JE Dunn, and funds raised by volunteers and community fundraisers headed up by SK828 — the group spearheading local support for the skatepark.
The Town of Franklin has also committed another $50,000 through a grant reimbursement under SCIF to the construction for a total of $151,674.74 raised toward the total project.
With all funds currently committed to the project, there is a remaining $110,575.26 needed for project completion. According to Owens, she hopes the town will be able to partner with the county for the bulk of the remaining funding needed. SK828 is also continuing fundraising efforts and plans to have additional money to help with the project.
Town crews are expected to begin grading the area located at the Whitmire Property in downtown Franklin identified for the skatepark in March and will be working with Artisan Skateparks during the process.
Once construction begins, the design-build project outlines a 150-day project completion timeline. According to Owens, the official start date for the project will be when the town has the preconstruction meeting with Artisan Skateparks, which is slated for late-May or early-June, dependent upon the schedule of Artisan.
Artisan Skateparks, which is based in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina is a collaboration of over 25 years of combined custom skatepark construction and design. All crew members are active skateboarders with a firm desire to remain on the leading edge of quality custom concrete skatepark construction techniques. Each and every crew member is skilled in all areas pertaining to custom concrete skatepark construction, including site layout, excavation and grading, elevations, form structure and reinforcement, metal fabrication, shotcrete placement and finishing, and concrete pump operations.
Although located in North Carolina, Artisan Skateparks is nationally-known for its work and have completed parks all over the country. Locally, Artisan is currently working on a rebuild of a skatepark in Asheville and is responsible for the skateparks located in Cherokee and Waynesville (park pictured above).
To all the old people who say we don’t need a skate park please shut up.
The last thing we need is more senior housing. The elderly are the only thing that make Macon County a horrible place to live.