The skate park is a new feature, something park district director Carol Kennard said has been requested for years.
“The facility will provide a new recreation opportunity for all age groups, but primarily for teens, who typically don’t use the parks as much,” Kennard said.
The park district talked with other communities and visited skate facilities planning for Oak Creek South’s renovations. Kettering has a plaza-type skate park. Kennard said kids from the Centerville area requested a bowl park.
A contract was awarded to J.L. Kuck and the start date is imminent. Kennard estimates the 100-foot-by-90-foot skate area should be completed in the fall. When finished there will be four bowls varying in depth and grade. Each provides a different level of difficulty.
Like Miamisburg, Middletown and Hamilton, which also have bowl-shaped skate parks, Centerville will display skate-at-your-own-risk warnings. Safety rules also will be posted. Operation will be limited to daylight hours.
The original pond feature constructed when the Oak Creek plat and park were first developed filled with silt. Its average depth had declined to only 1.5 feet and the water quality had deteriorated.
“The engineer’s recommendation was to revert the pond back to a naturalized stream and wetland, which would provide a richer aquatic habitat. The wetland area up by Miamisburg-Centerville Road is planted with wetland plants that will attract a new variety of birds and animals to the park and will also act as a filter for runoff from the road,” Kennard said. “The area will be less attractive to the Canada goose — we have a problem now with an overpopulation of geese in that park, which has limited the usability of open areas of the park.”
The district’s future plans include shelters for the other community parks, additional development at Oak Grove Park and developing Holes Creek and Silvercreek parks. The CWPD plans a 50-year celebration from 1-3 p.m. Nov. 1 at Grant Nature Nook, 6588 McEwen Road. The party will feature photographs taken of activities since the park district’s inception, nature displays, 50th anniversary give-aways, and a cake.
Trivia related to the park can be found on its Web site (www.cwpd.org).
For more information about the parks and the anniversary celebration, call (937) 433-5155.
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