Bethel
He and his friends may, however, have to wait a little while longer before that becomes a reality.
Bethel’s Recreation Committee is in the planning stages of a new skate park at the Bethel Recreation Center, phase two of a multi-step plan that began last year to upgrade, renovate and revitalize the town’s recreation center. Phase one focused on the center’s swim facility and included an upgrade to the pool house, removal of unusable tennis courts and the installation of a proper parking lot with handicap accessibility.
While phase one centered around aspects of the center that already existed, phase two plans to create something entirely new from scratch, a big part of the committee’s overall goal to rejuvenate the town.
“We’re really excited about all of (the improvements),” said Deitre Feeney, a member on the Bethel Recreation Committee. “But we’re really excited about the skate park in particular. In our research, we found that if we indeed build the one that we have had architects and skate park developers develop for us, it will be a state-of-the-art skate park and one of its kind in all of Vermont.”
Added Gabriel, Deitre Feeney’s son, spoke at Bethel’s Town Meeting day in support of the skate park: “It would be a much safer place to ride instead of going down streets. There are a lot of cars, surprisingly a lot of traffic for a small town. And it would just be another spot where we could go and hang out.”
Bethel’s Rec Committee, however, still has ways to go before a skate park can begin construction. The town has raised $30,000 on each of the last two Town Meeting days in favor of the project; donations and grants have raised another $10,000. But Feeney said the committee is still about $20,000 away from reaching its financial goal, which would allow construction to start on the smaller of two plans for the skate park, covering about 4,000 square feet with various ramps, halfpipes and metal bars for grinding.
A larger skate park plan was designed on a recommendation from the Tony Hawk Foundation, which told the committee to “dream big,” according to Deitre Feeney. The committee has applied for a skate park grant from the foundation, which could mean up to $25,000 toward the project.
The Tony Hawk Foundation’s primary mission “is to promote high quality, public skate parks in low-income areas throughout the United States, and to support international programs that enrich the lives of youth through skateboarding,” according to its website. “Only organizations seeking to build free, public skate parks in low-income communities in the United States may apply for a grant.”
The larger of the two skate park plans would cost about $50,000 more.
Eleanor Griffin, chairwoman of the Bethel Rec Committee, said a skate park would become a valuable asset to Bethel and its neighboring towns.
“In 2011, we did a survey of the area and we found that there was a good interest in skateboarding,” Griffin said. “I think there’s interest in the whole area. If we build it nicely, people will come.”
Added Gabriel Feeney: “It’s a small town. A lot (kids) are falling into drugs because there’s nothing to do.”
To begin construction, though, money needs to be raised.
Feeney and the committee have applied for grants and have begun to organize fundraisers in town fill the project’s coffers. The first event will be a dinner and concert on May 13 at the Bethel Town Hall featuring the string quintet of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. Silent auction prizes include an adult season pass to Killington next winter, 150 gallons of heating oil from Central Vermont Oil Company and a one-year family membership to the Vermont Technical College SHAPE physical fitness center.
Feeney admitted tickets are selling slowly. “It’s way less than we hoped,” she said. “We were hoping to sell 90 tickets to the dinner. Now, we’d be happy with 30.”
Tickets to dinner and the concert cost $100 per person, and balcony tickets to only the concert are $25 per person. Tickets can still be purchased by contacting Dietre Feeney at 802-234-6407 or Corey Stearns at 802-316-1062.
Ticket sales end May 8. Feeney said Stearns, Whitcomb’s varsity boys soccer coach, is also organizing a soccer tournament for this summer to contribute to the fundraising efforts.
Construction of the skate park could begin as early as this fall if sufficient funds are raised in time. Feeney said the committee may decide to continue its fundraising efforts for another year, particularly if the larger skate park is selected or if the Tony Hawk Foundation grant is approved, that could delay construction until fall 2018.
“We have this treasure of a recreation area and a rec center,” Griffin said. “It’s a treasure most towns don’t have.”
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.