May 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 22

Member to Member
How We Did It

The evolution of a skatepark into a world-class place for kids
By Pam Davis

K

ennesaw, Georgia, is a welcoming, family-friendly community of 30,000 in
the northwest suburbs of Atlanta. The town has many amenities - a Smithsonian-affiliated museum, a 16-acre botanical garden and 130 acres of parks,
public buildings and greenspaces. So there's something for everyone - almost.
In the mid-1990s, a park and recreation study was commissioned to determine the community's recreational needs, adopt standards based on population
and design a master plan for development.
" Our master plan included ballfields,
tennis courts and trails, but it also
identified a weakness: There weren't
any facilities or activities for kids who
weren't into team sports, " says Mark
Mathews, a city councilman at the
time and Kennesaw's current mayor.
So began the push for a skateboarding venue. The idea was further supported by a Cobb County analysis
that identified a need for a regional
skateboarding facility. The analysis
showed there were more than 30,000
boarders in the county and there
wasn't a single public facility to support their sport.

A committee was formed to promote
fundraising, and many community
members rallied behind the effort by
signing pledges and making donations.
In 2008, a pledge from a local skating
enthusiast allowed the city to build a
temporary " skate spot, " but the dream
of a full-fledged skatepark capable of
hosting regional or even national professional events was still the priority.
In 2011, the concept of a $1.4 million,
40,000-square-foot park was put before
the voters in a special local option sales
tax (SPLOST) referendum.
In the meantime, a committee
member who was also a sports mar-

keting professional consulted with
pro skateboarder Rob Dyrdek about
Kennesaw's project. In the spring of
2010, Dyrdek paid the city a visit and
toured the potential site.
" Rob wanted to be an active participant in the project and even agreed
to fund the construction drawings, "
says project leader and Assistant City
Manager Jeff Drobney.
The project moved into the Request for Qualifications (RFQ)
stage once the SPLOST passed and
a partial funding source was locked
in. The onus was now on the city to
raise the remainder of the funds required to complete the project. The
Swift-Cantrell Park Foundation was
formed to take on the challenge.
" It became a chicken-and-egg thing
to get people to commit, " according
to Mayor Mathews. " We needed a
build date to attract sponsorships, but
we also needed a commitment from

Conceptual drawing of
Swift-Cantrell Skatepark

20

Parks & Recreation

| M AY 2 0 1 3 | W W W. N R PA . O R G



May 2013 - Parks & Recreation

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