Skate Springfield?

Dear Springfield Neighbor,

Due to the ash contamination in Schell Park, the park’s future is very much up in the air. Until some form of remediation, or cap is completed, the park is an unusable site for any sort of recreation.

Recently an idea was brought up in the neighborhood to build a skate park on that site. The skate park would be helpful in containing the contamination by covering it with a layer of concrete, and would simultaneously improve the park’s functionality and make it available for recreation use by neighborhood families and children.

The design of the park that we would like to see would be that of a skate plaza. Skate plazas are built to look like a city park with landscaping, fountains, and sculptures, but intended to meet the needs of those with skateboards, scooters, and bikes. They are inherently multi-use, and can serve as a regular public park, suitable for relaxing, picnicking, or even as a concert or play venue.

The first step toward having a park like this built is to have the support of the neighbors around the park. We feel that a park like this would only benefit our community. It will contain the contamination in the park, be aesthetically pleasing, provide a place of recreation for neighborhood families, as well as draw other families to our great community.

We would appreciate your support as we work to make this park safe, usable, and esthetically pleasing for the entire community.

Please contact us at downtownparks(at)gmail.com, if you have any questions or would like to assist us in improving Schell Park.

Sincerely,

Phil Collins

Dan Blanchard

Jaimee Smith