Zelie skate park project slated to get under way
ZELIENOPLE — Ground is expected to be broken next month on the long-planned skate park in the borough’s Community Park.
And as it has been throughout the fundraising for the project, the community is chipping in to make the dream a reality.
Borough council on Monday awarded a bid for construction to Grindline for $577,962. According to Don Pepe, borough manager, officials are “really happy” with the bid, as original expectations were based on a cost of nearly $646,000.
The park has been a dream of dozens of volunteers and community members since 2010, following the death of three Seneca Valley High School students — Trevor Barkley, Sam Bucci and Elijah Lunsford — in a vehicle accident. Barkley had been working on bringing a skate park to the borough as part of his senior project.
Project leaders secured a $200,000 grant from the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources as well as $10,000 from the Tony Hawk Foundation. The remainder of the project cost has been raised through grassroots efforts, including eight years of successful fish fries held during Lent.
Community donations have also added to that total, and project leaders said they are about $38,000 short of being fully funded.
On Monday, officials announced that the project received an additional donation from Barbish Contracting in Harmony that will cover the difference in cost for all site work involved in the project — about $40,000 total.
“(Robert) Barbish is doing a wonderful thing,” Pepe said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a project that was fully funded before we broke ground, and it’s pretty much where we are now.”
Pepe said the project is expected to break ground July 8. The grant requires the skate park to be completed by 2020.
