A new, larger skate park is coming to Gordon Spratt Reserve in Pāpāmoa, Tauranga City Council has announced.
Council says the existing skate park is no longer fit-for-purpose and will be demolished and rebuilt over the next few months.
The new skate park, which will also include a quarter pipe and street style features such as a manual pad, a street hip, a euro gap, A-frame ramp, stairs, ledges and rails, is expected to open in September.
In addition to the new toilet block and seating that have recently been installed as part of the overall upgrade to the reserve, Council will also install and build other amenities such as new lighting for the skate park, a pathway in and around the skate park, a barbeque, more seating, more rubbish bins, bike racks and shade sails.
“We’ll be increasing the skate park’s footprint by approximately 300sq/m to an overall size of approximately 900sq/m,” said Council General Manager Community Services, Barbara Dempsey
“As well as increasing the footprint, new lighting will be installed so the skate park can be utilised in the evenings during winter. That’s been one of the main feedback from our skater community; being able to utilise skate parks all year round, day or night.”
Demolition work on the existing skate park will take place during May. As part of the demolition process, the old concrete will be removed from site, crushed and recycled.
The skatepark is one of several projects taking place across Tauranga to create a more liveable city that has amenities and environments that contribute to a sense of wellbeing and enjoyment, and to complement the construction of Tauranga’s destination skate park at the corner of Mount Maunganui and Hull Roads, said Ms Dempsey.
Funding to build the new skate park, along with complementary amenity improvements to the Gordon Spratt Reserve, comes from the Pāpāmoa Development Contributions.
The total cost for both the demolition of the existing skate park and rebuilding a new, larger skate park is approx. $500,000. The demolition cost is $43,000 and the design and build of the new skate park is $458,000.
