Parks and Recreation Director John Simeon said following council's meeting the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee will meet Monday at 5:30 p.m.to consider converting the 85-feet by 85-feet sand volleyball court into a skateboard-BMX park. The meeting will be held at T.J. Davis.
Simeon said plans have been in the works the last two months to convert the outdoor volleyball into a skateboard park. The matter has been discussed over the last 10 years and appeared in the city's 1997 recreation master plan.
Renewed interest in developing the facility came out of the recent countywide recreation master plan meetings, he said, as well as discussions with the police department.
Citizens and business owners have already donated some 60 to 75 percent of the cost to build the facility, Simeon told council. The city continues to try to solicit additional funds to build the park, which he told council will cost between $20,000 to $25,000.
Upon approval by the Recreation Advisory Committee, the first phase of the project would be to change the sand to a smooth concrete surface, while the next phase would be to solicit comments from some of the BMX riders and skateboarders on what elements — rails and pipes — they would like to see.
Simeon said he expects once completed the facility would see an average of 25 users per day. “I think it will be one of the most used facilities in Roanoke Rapids.”
Donations came out of concern from business owners. “They have been seeing an uptick of kids on the sidewalks and parking lots and not having a safe place for them to ride,” Simeon said.
The first phase of the project should move quickly, Simeon said. “The second phase and planning of the elements depends on additional funding.”
The end goal, he said, is to have competition for riders in central and eastern North Carolina as the size of the proposed park will be larger than others across the state.
As far as liability, the facility will be indirectly supervised by staff already working at T.J. Davis, something discussed with the city's insurance provider beforehand. “They don't have that many concerns,” Simeon said.
