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On August 29th 2005 we had an informal organizational meeting at the Bloomington Public Library. The Park staff, as well as two City Alderman attended this meeting. We presented them with the idea of a skatepark in our community, which basically got the ball rolling. On August 31th the Pantagraph printed a front page article regarding our efforts to get a park. On September 2nd we got some more publicity with a spot on WEEK NEWS 25. This was conducted at Fairview Skatepark in Normal, IL. with an interview & footage of the skateboarders / BMX riders in action. Jon had a meeting with park staff on September 14th, in which some more ground was gained toward our cause. He was told they might consider Rollingbrook or White Oak Park as a place for a trial skatepark. Jon then had a meeting at his home on September 20th to form a committee for future dealings with the Parks / Rec. Department. This takes us to a meeting on October 13th between the park staff & our committee. They were given a great presentation with us accomplishing a major goal. Keith Rich (Parks Director) said he would submit our idea in November for the 2006 budget ! That is where we stand at the moment, and I will update you whenever some new issues arise ! I now have an update regarding the status on the skatepark project. Jon Perkins received an email from Dean Kohn (Park Superintendent) on December 14th with some good news. They have four possible site locations, which include White Oak Park, Rollingbrook, O`Neil, and Pepper Ridge. Mr. Kohn also stated they have put money in the Capital Improvement Budget to do the project this coming year. He hopes to meet with Tom Hamilton (City Manager) in January to discuss the capital projects. He also wants to meet with us in January to discuss the possible locations. If those of you that will use this facility have any input you can put it in my guest book, and I will pass the information on. I will update this again once I get more details ! NEWS FLASH ! Jon Perkins had a meeting with the new Parks Director on Wednesday 01/18/06, and got some good news. We might get $250,000.00 for the skatepark budget, but we wont know for sure until March 1st. The possible locations have been narrowed down to three choices in the following order. O`Neil Park is their first choice with Rollingbrook Park second, and White Oak Park in the third spot. If things move along as planned, then construction could start in June ! When we have a more definate answer on everything we will get the word out as soon as possible. IMPORTANT NEWS UPDATE !!! Jon Perkins got some bad news today from City Manager - Tom Hamilton. He stated they don`t have $250,000.00 at this time for a skatepark. He said that with planning maybe they could work out a 2-3 year plan. I feel that along with Dean Kohn we have done enough research and planning to go forward with this project ! We are asking everyone to phone, email or send a letter to all the City Officials in support of the Bloomington Skatepark !! The possibility of a skatepark this year is not a dead issue regardless of the news you have been hearing ! Jon and I worked on a packet tonight 03/08/06 to be given to the City Council. We also have a another meeting with Parks & Recreation Staff tomorrow 03/09/06. We shall see what is said at this meeting, and continue forward from there. KEEP THE DREAM ALIVE ! We had our meeting with Dean Kohn today 03/09/06, and came away pretty satisfied ! He said they feel Solo Ramps is the right choice for the possible skatepark. They have pre-fabricated concrete set-ups, as well as the composite ramps, skateable tables, benches, and more ! There is a link to their site on my home page, so go check out what they have to offer ! March 17, 2006 - Jon Perkins has asked me to take over the skatepark project while he takes care of some personal matters ! The budget hearing is next Wednesday 03/22/06, and Dean Kohn is supposed to submit somthing. I will be at this meeting along with other members of our committee, and will update again once I have new information. We showed our presence at the Budget Hearings last night, and I have mixed feelings on the issue. We got a booklet on the City of Bloomington 2006 - 2007 Preliminary Budget, and it does include a skatepark. They have designated $30,000.00 for what they call a Skateboard Park Design that I call a waste of money. The City Manager understands that a professional skatepark design company is needed for the building of this project. These companies are in business to do this type thing, and I don`t think it cost that much ! This takes us to the 2007 - 2008 expense budget with a price of $170,000.00 for Skateboard Park Construction next year. I am not satisfied with these numbers, and don`t know what they think they can build at that cost ! The City Council can still vote to get this project going this year, so we need you to contact them showing your support. I believe they vote on this budget at the council meeting April 10, 2006 if you want to show up to hear what might be said. I plan on contacting the council members concerning the amounts of money suggested. KEEP THE DREAM ALIVE ! The council approved the 5 year budget plan on April 10th meaning you have a skatepark on the agenda for next year ! We feel it is time to give this project one final shove to get it off the ground this year. We want to do something like "Wild In The Streets", but we need to do it in an orderly manner ! Take It To The Streets - Bloomington Style to promote community awareness regarding the need for a skatepark now !!!! Date and start time to be announced soon ! We had a committee meeting on Wednesday 04/26/06 to discuss the street skate we have planned for Bloomington ! We are going to have this event three days after the Emerica "Wild In The Streets" event to be held in Chicago, Illinois. Our event is scheduled for June 24th, and the start time will be right around 12 noon ! We will have a starting location that will be announced later. We will also be doing prize giveaways at the pre-determined stops. We are thinking of ending the day at one of our local parks with the possibility of a live band ! Stay tuned for updates to come soon !!! NEWS FLASH !!!! We had a meeting with Dean Kohn (Bloomington Parks Director) today Wednesday May 3rd that went very well ! The Skatepark wont be built until next year, but planning is in the works as I speak. They are going to allow all the athletes of the combined sports to discuss skatepark ideas with the designers ! This should be coming up some time in June. We have also cancelled the Street Skate we were planning for something "Much Bigger" ! Dean is going to let us have an Awareness Day / Demonstration Day at Miller Park on The 4th of July. He is also willing to put out money to have a company bring in equipment that you guys can use for this event. The Festivities at the park bring in hundreds of people, so be prepared to show them what you can do !! Check back for updates or visit Shock Waves or street tribe for information on this event. Dean Kohn (Bloomington Parks Director) is calling a community meeting for the "Future Skatepark" ! This will be at O`Neil Park on Wednesday June 7th at 6:30 P.M. so plan on attending if you have anything to say. Also...the "Awareness / Demo Day" will be held on a day other than the 4th of July. The possible dates include June 24th, July 8th, or July 15th and we will get this out as soon as it is finalized ! Stay tuned for more to come ! The skatepark meeting went very well last night at O`Neil Park with several people attending. Barb Wells (Superintendent of Recreation) was there with Dean Kohn (Parks Director). Mike Tanner and Mark Peterson from Midwest Playgrounds had a sample ramp there to show the public their product. There were also four of the City Council members there which included Steve Purcell, Mike Matejka, Alan Gibson, and Jim Finnegan. Mary Ann Ford was there to cover the story for the Pantagraph, and there was a member of WJBC with her. We also had Barb Atkins from the City Managers office that attended the event. Most of our Skatepark Committee were there, several skateboarders with some BMX riders, and there were a number of the area residents that came. The overall opinion was that the neighborhood was for the skatepark !! My personal thanks goes out to all those that came to this meeting in a show of support !! Great Cities Have Great Skateparks ! I had an informal meeting on June 29th with Garry Little (Normal Parks Director) and Doug Wiggs (Assistant Parks Director). This was held at Fairview Skatepark, and was to discuss possible improvements that could be made to the facility. I was told that nothing could really be done to the asphalt surface, but they may be able to remove some of the rust from the ramps. They also stated that new metal could possibly be put on the small quarter pipe the Parks Department had made themselves. They will also try to replace the Wave Sun Ramp that was removed, and we may get one new piece of equipment. Some of the skateboarders and I suggested they put a 4 ft. mini half pipe in the empty space by the 5 ft. quarter pipe. It was also mentioned that a pathway or concrete stairs could be built from the access road down to the park entrance on the west side. With the possibility of the Downtown Normal Skateboarding Ban this might create some pressure for them to get going on these things. On June 30th I sent Dean Kohn (Bloomington Parks Director) photos of another area within O`Neil Park to consider for the Bloomington Skatepark. This area is located by the west access parking lot just south of the softball fields, and measures 180 ft. W X 300 ft. in length. There would be no need to build new basketball courts, few if any trees would have to be removed, and they would still have their overflow parking area. Mike Tanner and Mark Peterson (Midwest Sales - Solo Ramps) also stated this other area would be great for a multi-level skatepark. It would basically be cheaper for the city to build in this other spot, and there would be plenty of room for any future expansion. It seems to me that Dean Kohn wants to do things his own way, so I don`t know what will become of this idea ! Dean Kohn has scheduled the Bloomington Skatepark Design Session for Wednesday July 26th at 11:00 AM. This will be held at the White Oak Park Community Room located on Cottage Ave. by the youth soccer fields. He wants a maximum of 15 participants for this, and we currently have 12 guys that stated they would be able to attend. Jon Perkins was informed that the guys from Midwest Sales (Solo Ramps) would also be at this session. They will also be providing pizza for lunch from what I was told ! David Gucwa, Jon Perkins, and I will be having a meeting with Normal Councilman Adam Nielsen at Fairview Skatepark. This will be Wednesday July 26th at 6:00 PM, and will be to discuss possible improvements that can be made to the skatepark. Mr. Nielsen is one of the Council Members that was against the proposed skateboarding / bike ban. I will update this site once we find out exactly where we stand on all current issues ! The Bloomington Skatepark Design Session went good with seven guys able to make it ! These included Matt Curry, Andrew Curry, Jacob Curry, Phil Garza, Mike Lentz, and Matt Bauer. Jon Perkins, Tracy Perkins, and I were also there, and Dean provided Avanti`s Pizza with Pepsi for everyone. Mike Tanner and Mark Peterson from Midwest Sales (Solo Ramps) had new catalogs, their laptop PC, and miniature skatepark components to build a skatepark design. They will now send the ideas to Solo Ramps so they can draw up a concept based on what the guys came up with. The design with cost estimate will then be presented to Dean Kohn (Parks Director) for approval based on the skatepark budget ! Pictures from the design session can be found in Photo Gallery One ! David Gucwa, Amber Bury, Matt Bauer, and I all had a good meeting with Adam Nielsen (Normal Councilman) at Fairview Skatepark. He seemed genuinely interested in what we had to show him in regards to improving this facility. I told him what had been discussed at my meeting with Garry Little (Normal Parks Director) and Doug Wiggs (Assistant Director). I also let him know that I was informed back in January that there were several updates/changes to be made to the skatepark when the weather improved. David discussed the skateboard/bike ban with him, and also showed him the existing problems at the facility. Mr. Nielsen stated that the city really needs to look into getting some funds to fix up the skatepark ! He couldn`t speak on when a new skatepark might be built, but did ask if there was another park that might be good for one ! Once we get more information you can find it here !!! News Flash !!! The proposed skateboard / bike ban for Downtown Normal was voted down Monday night August 7th by the City Council ! Mayor Koos also stated this gave them a realization that something has to be done to Fairview Skatepark. I will be contacting all the Normal City Officials to see just where we now stand on this issue, and when something might actually get started. On Tuesday August 7th WEEK News 25 met with Jon Perkins and I at Jons house ! They did a short interview with Jon`s son Andrew as well as Jon to see what they thought about the skateboard / bike ban not getting passed. They also did some video footage of Andrew, and my 3 grandson`s on the mini half pipe Jon has built at their house. They also want to get with us some time to do an interview in regards to improvements or upgrades that may be done at Fairview Skatepark ! Update October 24th, 2006 !!! On August 22nd I sent an email to Mike Tanner of Midwest Playgrounds to check on the O`Neil Skatepark design status. I was told they had the designs back from Solo Ramps, but they wanted some of the skaters to look them over. He also stated that when Dean Kohn (Bloomington Parks Director) had copies he would get back to me. I found out Mike Tanner sent a rough design to Matt Bauer & Mike Lentz at Shock Waves. Matt sent back a couple ideas for change to the design, and also had a couple phone conversations with Tanner. They have never heard anymore from the guys at Midwest since that time. I sent another email to them September 24th to ask when I might get a copy of the design. I also had to question why the original idea of a half pipe was taken out of the design, which is something else I found out. The response I got back this time was basically sarcastic, and I was told I would get a copy of the design once Dean said it was alright ! He also said they could put the half pipe back into the design if you take out half the other items. Jon Perkins and Twila Braden emailed the Parks Dept. at this time to let them know what we were being told. Dean Kohn contacted Jon by phone and stated he would get a meeting together with our committee. A month has now passed with no further contact from Dean or the guys from Midwest Playgrounds. I don`t know what all the secrecy is about in regards to the design, but the actual budget amount seems to be hush. hush also !!! At this time I can only tell you what Matt Bauer told me the initial rough design included. He said there were some stairs, ledges, rails, along with a number of wedges. There might be a split quarter pipe like the one at Fairview Skatepark in Normal, but I`m not sure. I will post the design pics. on the site when I finally get to see what they have for us ! Now for an update in regards to the possible improvements I was told would happen to Fairview Skatepark ! I sent an email to Garry Little (Normal Parks Director) & Doug Wiggs (Assistant Parks Director) on August 27th. There has been alot of talk about improving the skatepark, and also the possible addition of a half pipe out there. I wanted to know if there had been any talks among City Officials about funding to get some of these things started this year. I never received any response from either of the Parks Dept. Officials !! I then sent an email to the Mayor, City Manager, and the Council Members on October 15th. I spoke of everything that has been discussed about the facility since the first week of January until now. I received a reply from Council Member Sonja Reece, and she said budget talks are currently going on for the next fiscal year. She said the Parks Dept. might already have a line item on the agenda, but if not it definately needed to be on the table for serious consideration ! I then got an email from Mark Peterson (City Manager) on October 16th. He stated that Garry Little had proposed an expenditure of approx. $75,000.00 for various improvements to the skatepark for fiscal year 2007/2008. This will be reviewed by the City Council in January, and I feel they will probably approve the funding. I was told they would certainly talk to the users of the facility for suggestions before they embark on a specific course of action ! If all goes well we should have a nice new skatepark in Bloomington, and a highly improved skatepark in Normal !!! GREAT CITIES HAVE GREAT SKATEPARKS !!! Happy New Year !!! Let`s start the 1st day of 2007 with the latest news ! There was an article in the Pantagraph Viewpoint yesterday by Mayor Steve Stockton. It spoke of the upcoming projects for Bloomington, which include the O`Neil Skatepark ! He states the design for the park is complete, and expects the project to be under way by summer. I also checked the City of Normal (Community Investment Plan) for FY 2007 - 2012. The 75K dollars for renovations to Fairview Skatepark seem to be approved for FYE 08. There are also plans to build a new skatepark at a cost of $400K dollars, but there is no actual time frame set in concrete for this ! KEEP THE DREAM ALIVE ! 04/02/07 -Update For O`Neil Skatepark ! I emailed Dean Kohn on March 27th to inquire about groundbreaking for the facility. Dean got back with me today to say he didn`t have a set date yet, but would contact me after May 1st. 05/12/07 - I think Dean Kohn might be wanting to go with a different designer which is fine with me ! He might be talking with a fairly new company called BlueStone Skateparks. From photo`s I`ve seen I can say they make some sick skateparks ! You`ll see it here once I have more information ! The renovations at Fairview Skatepark in Normal, IL. will start this fall. Doug Wiggs (Assisant Parks Director) wants to have a forum with the skaters later this summer. This will give everybody the opportunity to voice their opinions on what improvements should be made ! Thanks to David Gucwa(street-tribe) for getting an organized "Go Skateboarding Day" in Normal. Illinois ! It is scheduled for June 21st, and details of the days activities can be found at street-tribe.com. Kudos to the City of Bloomington, Illinois also for sponsoring a skateboarding trip to Krush Skatepark in Tinley Park, Illinois ! It will be June 16th, is open to youth 12-15 yr. olds, and will cost $25.00 per person. Details can be found in the Bloomington Parks & Rec. Summer Program Guide on page 20. May 26th 2007 Update : Jon Perkins recently got new info on the O`Neil Skatepark situation ! The plan is to get the concrete base down in the next month, and they are supposed to get specifications of the site to go out for bids in the next couple weeks. They hope to have the product installed and operational by Labor Day, but we still don`t know what the product might be ! I sent the Bloomington Officials an email 06/18 to ask that they consider holding off on the resurfacing at O`Neil until a designer is chosen. I explained the concrete base is fine if you go with ramps, but not needed if they use an actual concrete skatepark designer. I provided them with a link to BlueStone Skateparks along with a photo of a bowl they are working on in Ohio. I got an email from Scott Coley of BlueStone on 06/20, and he said they have put in a bid for the project. July 22nd - I contacted the Blm./Nrml. YMCA on 6/16/07 to see if they had considered building a skatepark at their new location. Chris Weittenhiller (Associate Executive Director) sent me a reply stating they had considered it, and are very interested in this type venture. He said they don`t have room at the new facility, but are in the process of finding additional land for this type programming. He asked if I would like to set up a time to meet with him to discuss the possibilities. I sent him an email today stating that I could meet with him most any day, so we shall see what transpires from this ! Jon Perkins and I had a meeting with the Assistant Director of the "Y" on July 24th. They are very interested in building a skatepark here ! Once they have aquired additional space they want us to get some of the local skaters and bikers together for a committee. This will be to determine what type facility would work best for all those that will be using it. He said they want to build the skatepark, a pool, and possibly a tennis court. There will be a fee involved like a season pass to use any of the amenities within the facility. August 11, 2007 - American Ramp Company contacted David Gucwa in regards to the skatepark to be built at O`Neil Park. They said they have been working with Dean Kohn (Parks Director) and want to do an event to demonstrate their equipment. They are supposed to send David some flyers, and once I have some more info I will get it posted. Steve Purcell (Ward 7), Jon Perkins, David Gucwa, and I have a meeting with Dean Kohn this Thursday Sept. 6th ! The bid proposals were finished last Friday August 31st, and he wants to discuss the usability of the products with us. Dean has to have a recommendation turned into the City Council by Sept. 14th to be ready for the Sept 24th Council Meeting. 09/05/07 - There will be a meeting with the Normal Parks & Rec. Dept. next Wednesday Sept. 12th (4:00 P.M.) at Fairview Skatepark. This will be to determine how much of the old equipment will fit with the new they are getting, and how the ramps should be arranged. GET THE WORD OUT TO EVERYONE ! The meeting with Dean Kohn went unexpectedly well ! It was unanimous that American Ramp Co. will build the skatepark. They had the best bid, and provide us with more equipment for the money invested. We have another meeting this Thurs. 09/13/07 to finalize a few items ! We had over 50 supporters at the Bloomington Council Meeting 09/24/07. We got publicity on WMBD TV, WJBC radio, WGLT radio, and the Pantagraph. Although the skatepark wasn`t on the agenda the Mayor acknowledged all that were there. He had everybody stand, then stated that looked more impressive ! We were also allowed to hand in petitions with over 800 signatures ! They will vote on the skatepark issue on Monday Oct. 8th, and we plan to be there again with as many supporters as possible ! Update - (Nov. 4th, 07) Fairview Skatepark will be closed longer than expected since the resurfacing isn`t quite done. The whole area has been sealed, and the spots where the ramps sunk in were cut out then re-filled with new asphalt. I`m going to check, but I believe they will now go over the whole area with new asphalt. The old grind box plus the quarter pipe maintenance made have been removed. The new pieces of equipment should be here within the next few weeks ! They still plan to re-paint the fence, and a concrete path is supposed to be created down the hill from the service road. The 1st stages have started at O`Neil Park with the new basketball courts. The spot was dug last week, and they already had half of the concrete done on Fri. 11/02/07. I am hoping they get the basketball goals moved this coming week so J.G. Stewart can get going on the concrete pad for the skatepark. Photo`s of O`Neil & Fairview can be viewed at my MSN site Midwest Skateboarding. There is a link to this site on my home page. Fairview Skatepark in Normal reopened on November 28th. The surface was resealed and patched, and all the new equipment is installed. They put some new metal on the funbox, boxed it in all around, and also boxed in the hip transfer. They will bring back part of the old quarter pipe ramp to place in the N/W corner once it has been reinforced. In the spring they will repaint the fence, add a walkway down the hill on the West side, and install the drinking fountain. The 4 in. concrete pad for the O`Neil Skatepark in Bloomington is just about finished. They poured the final concrete on 12/04/07, and the equipment should be here before Xmas. I was told installation would start right after the "New Year" ! The final design draft is available to view from the home page. Update : 12/28/07 - The Normal Parks Dept. put all new metal on the riding surface of the old quarter pipe. It was placed in the N/W corner of the skatepark giving us ALL the old equipment back. The skatepark equipment for O`Neil Park in Bloomington is scheduled to be on site on Jan. 7th. Update : 01/17/08 - The equipment arrived on schedule, and the Bloomington Parks crew started installation immediately with the help of Kim Banks (ARC). They worked every day for 6 days, and had the skatepark finished on 01/14/08. Once signs are posted for liability reasons we will be able to set a "Grand Opening" day !! 02/17/08 - Kolor Skateboards will have their video premiere at the Normal Theatre on March 8th from 1 - 3 PM. If you bring your board you will have to check it in at ShockWaves Skate Shop, so show up early. You can buy the video after the premiere, and there will be an autograph signing at ShockWaves. Tickets for the movie are 2-3 dollars in advance or $5.00 at the door. We are working on a date for the "Grand Opening" of the O`Neil Skatepark in Bloomington. This might be on March 15th (weather permitting), but we would like the temps. to be in the high 40`s. We will be giving out free merchandise provided by American Ramp, and we will do a raffle for items donated by the local shops. Matt Bauer (ShockWaves) is working with Kolor Skateboard Team to possibly do a demo that day also ! The tentative times for the opening day events will be from around 12 noon - 3:00 PM. The news media will be there, so come with your game on !! Check back here for a confirmation on the exact date. We had the "Grand Opening" event for O`Neil Skatepark yesterday March 29th, 2008. It was a bit on the chilly side, but the sun made it more tolerable. There were probably 100 - 150 youth that attended the event, and they got quite the treat. We had a BMX bike demo by several of the local riders as well as some riders from the Chicago area. Kolor Skateboards also did a great demo for everyone, and then had a huge product toss afterward ! They also got 99.5 "The Eagle" rolling radio that played 100% Classic Rock thru the afternoon. Jon Perkins and I did prize drawings all day for decks, wheels, t-shirts, shoes, trucks, stickers, gift cards, and a couple of complete skateboards. We also through out a bunch of street-tribe stickers, several sets of skateboard risers, and American Ramp Co. tech deck keychains. The Parks Dept. also brought out the NEOS electronic playground game from PlayWorld Systems for everyone to try. We also provided plenty of chips, pretzels, water, and all kinds of pop ! Thanks to everybody that played a part in making this a fantastic day !