Photo by Kevin Fujii/Chronicle fileThe skate park at Bear Branch Park will be expanded by the end of the year to include a streetscape plaza.
The Woodlands Community Association approved a new design-build plan for the community-wide skate facility, which will includes rails, ramps, a planter, benches and even a fire hydrant to mimic a street setting in the community. The streetscape plaza will cost $50,000, with another $8,000 to build a shade structure at the park.
“It will have more facilities to use than now,” said Jeff Long, president of The Woodlands Community Association, which represents older villages in the community.
Bear Branch is the largest skate park in The Woodlands and is designed for intermediate to advanced skaters. The facility already includes in-ground concrete bowls and above ground concrete plazas. The site also includes fencing and lighting.
The WCA originally voted in May to hire two separate companies to do the concrete work and provide ramps for the project, but staff decided instead to request a design-built contract because of the lack of a pad site at the location. The design-build option also would allow local skaters to have input on design.
The project was awarded to Parthenon Custom Concrete, which has built skate parks in Lockhart, Round Rock and San Antonio. The project should be complete by the end of the year.
Since skate parks were introduced in The Woodlands nine years ago, there had only been one serious accident at such a facility, said Kelly Dietrich, assistant director of parks and recreation. When asked about liability issues at skate parks, Dietrich said that insurance companies consider them to carry the same risk as playgrounds.
Dietrich said signs are posted at each skate park about the inherent risk of the activity and helmets and pads are required to be used at all skate parks. Dietrich said there have been no claims filed on the Bear Branch skate park.
Board member Everett Ison asked what skaters do with the fire hydrant located in the middle of the park.
“You want to jump it,” Dietrich said.
Claude Hunter, a member of The Woodlands Association, said while he supports skate parks, he is concerned that this facility will serve as a training ground to teach kids how to skate in the streets of the community.
WCA board member Bruce Tough said he was skeptical about skate parks when they were first introduced in the community nine years ago, but now he is sold on the idea.
“We set up a temporary skate park and I went to visit and there was 100 kids out there,” Tough said. “Our parks department has made incredible progress in staying ahead of the needs of the community.”
In another parks matter, the WCA approved the expansion of the community garden at the Bear Branch Sportsfield and agreed to share the cost of the project with The Woodlands Associations.
The Woodlands only community garden will be expanded by 30 plots this fall, just in time for the fall planting season. This will meet a growing need in the community, with 60 people on a waiting list for plots in the garden.
The improvements to the garden will include new fencing, two new water pipes, and new plots, ranging from small to large. The cost of the project is $13,600, which will be shared by the two homeowner associations.