Seymour is closer to getting a new skate park, after the Board of Selectmen approved preliminary plans to relocate the park to town-owned land next to the Community Center on Pine Street.
But the town still has a lot of work to do.
Skate Park Committee chairman Paul Roy is optimistic the park will be nearing completion by the summer.
“If all goes well, we could break ground by mid-March,” Roy told the Board of Selectmen at its meeting on Feb. 7.
Background
The skate park used to be downtown, on Wakeley Street.
But it had to be moved as part of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s plans to construct a fish bypass canal in the Naugatuck River. That project is still pending.
A skate park committee has been meeting each week to come up with plans for the new skate park. They are planning to pay for the park with about $187,000 in state grants.
The plans at this point just outline the location of the park.
The proposal calls for using about 12,000 square feet near the Naugatuck River on Pine Street, next to the parking lot for the town’s community center.
The land currently has playing fields and open space.
Next Steps
Now that the Board of Selectmen have approved the concept, the Skate Park Committee will start seeking project proposals from skate park building companies.
“We’re sending out packages to all the potential builders of the park,” Roy said. “We’re telling them what we have available, what kind of money we have available and what we’re looking to do.”
The final product will depend on what the builders are able to do for the amount of money Seymour has.
The skate park plans will then have to be approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Inland Wetlands Commission.
Another potential obstacle is the Seymour Housing Authority, which currently holds a lease for the property where the skate park is proposed.
Roy said he has talked with Seymour Housing Authority Executive Director David Keyser, who seemed willing to relinquish the lease to make way for the skate park.
A call seeking comment was left with Keyser.
Grand Plans
Eventually, Seymour wants the skate park to be an attraction, bringing people from out of town to the downtown area. The community center is a few blocks away from Seymour’s downtown.
Roy said with a playground at the site, families will be attracted to the park for their children of different ages.
“It will make a very nice area for the whole family to come,” Roy said.
First Selectman Kurt Miller said he hopes to install more lighting at the community center and possibly a security camera to make sure the park doesn’t get vandalized, like the previous park did.
He praised Roy for the work the committee has done.
“I think you guys have hit a home run with the planning stages,” Miller told Roy at the meeting.
