ROCKPORT, Texas — Rockport officials encountered a problem when moving its skate park from its current location to a prepared pad site in Memorial Park.
Employees learned the infrastructure of equipment was disintegrating due to age and exposure to outside elements at the Community Aquatic Center.
“After 15 years of use and sitting out in our temperate environment, the metal and wooden framework was falling apart and required a massive rebuild to ensure the safety and functionality of the equipment,” Rockport Parks Director Rick Martinez said. “Not only was this a setback to our initial timeline, we had to undertake unplanned work with a depleted staff, and still continue to stay on top of the regular work schedule."
But with additional manpower provided by volunteer work from several local residents, the problem is fixed and the new site should be ready in a few weeks.
Local resident Jimmy Wright Jr. contacted Martinez asking if he could help speed up the rebuilding process.
Wright and several others scheduled a workday to help finish the work. It was the culmination of a labor of remembrance for Wright, who had a special affinity for the park after spending many hours skateboarding their during his youth.
Now with children who are skateboarders, Wright was inspired to provide them with the same experiences as he had during his youth at the new location at Memorial Park.
Wright was helped in his efforts by local residents Mike Bock, Leroy Galindo, Ryan Cortez and Jake Newberry, according to a City of Rockport notice.
"If it weren’t for their help, we would have fallen further behind in our schedule in rebuilding and relocating the skate park," Martinez said. "Thankfully, it will be up and running in mid-March, or sooner."
