$20,000 donation gets new half pipe for city park
By LESTER MURRAY news2@kilgorenewsherald.com

Kilgore city workers, along with representatives from Texas Landscape Structures work on the assembly of the new half pipe for the skate park in Kilgore's City Park. The ramp should be done by today according to Leesa Lewis, representative for the Skatewave Division. The ramp cost $38,000.

It might be Friday the 13th - maybe bad luck for some, but for half pipe fans this is a good day.

The City of Kilgore, in conjunction with an anonymous donor who contributed $20,000, are nearing completion of a brand new addition to the skate park.

Leesa Lewis, sales representative for Recreation Consultants of Texas, Landscape Structures Skatewave Division, from Tyler said she and her co-worker, Greg Hawkins, of Dallas are working with the city and Dr. Jeff Davis on the project.

Lewis said the new structure will be four feet high and approximately 16 feet wide and is a modular design which can be moved if the city wants to re-locate it to another location.

"The half pipe is also designed to be off the ground to keep the frame from being in water and the unit is sealed all the way around," said Lewis. "It is also fitted with a special baffling sheet to deaden the sound and the final steel skin has a special surface to simulate the texture of concrete.'

Construction started on Thursday and was slated to be finished by the end of today said, Lewis.

Lewis, Hawkins and a group of Kilgore City park employees were fitting the modular unit together and placing it in the southwest corner of the existing skate park.

Dr. Davis said the anonymous donation consisted of $20,000 to help improve the skate park. "I grew up skateboarding and love it," said Davis. "Tyler has a real nice skate park and I felt Kilgore had room for growth to give these skaters more options in the park."

The new addition to the park was approved by the City Council months ago using matching funds for the donation.

Hawkins said the unit cost $38,000 and has a 15 year warranty. "More and more cities are seeing how popular skating is getting and putting parks like the one in Kilgore as main stream activities for their youth," said Hawkins.

Lewis said by using Skatewave, the city is investing in a piece of equipment that is the best in the country and is safe as can be for this type of sport. "With limited liability by cities due to a law passed by the legislature, these skate parks are becoming more and more popular," said Hawkins.

Even though the metal ramp does get hot in the sun, the hand rails are coated to keep them from burning the riders' hands at the top of the ramp.

Lewis said working with the city and Dr. Davis has been a pleasure and with the skilled labor provided by the city, the half pipe was going up effortlessly.

"By using modular designs, if in the future Kilgore decides it wanted to add another type of ramp, Skatewave could provide just what the city needed to expand the skate park and give riders something new and different like the half pipe they are getting today," said Lewis.