By james art 
The construction of the first Cincinnati skate park can start from this fall.
The project was just awarded a $ 300,000 grant from the Ohio Natural Resources Department. Cincinnati City Council also allocated $ 250,000 in the fiscal 2024.
A group called Cincinnati Skatepark Project has advocated for a park in the last few years. Co -founder Evan Walker says total costs are estimated at $ 800,000 to $ 900,000; The group has already raised a private $ 50,000 and will continue to raise funds and apply for local subsidies.
Related: The Council decriminalizes the skateboard on the city streets and sidewalks
The city has chosen a builder, according to a spokesman for the recreation committee and the design process will begin soon.
“This will be a custom -designed skate park,” Walker said. “So we will work with the community – both the skate community and the local neighborhood – to meet the needs of the city.”
The skate park will be located behind the Camp Washington recreation area in what is currently a lawn, next to a playground and a basketball court. Walker says that the design will keep the green space as large as possible.
“I think people will be surprised that it will look like a really cool and beautiful green space, even when we pour concrete and people skate,” he said.
Walker says the Camp’s Community Council Washington has also requested to include public safety lights. He says this will also encourage skaters to use the space in the evening, both in the winter, when it gets dark earlier and in the summer, when it can be too hot to skate during the day.
“We believe that working with the builder to make this a truly creative and innovative space will attract people from even neighboring countries and show that we need skate parks, to be honest, throughout the city,” he said.
Related: Skaters ask Cincinnati to put a skate park in Sawyer Point, replacing a burned -out platform
This may include in Sawyer Point, where a fire that damaged the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge to the I-471, also destroyed a playground-leaving already empty space that Walker says would be perfect for another skate park.
The Cincinnati skatepat asks the city to look at the idea. A spokesman for the Cincinnati Park Division told WVXU in November that there will be a community engagement process to determine what the space should enter and this process may take months.