PALM COAST — Though the City Council still supports the idea for a new skate park, officials won’t be using a surplus leftover from the Indian Trails parking expansion project to fund it.
Instead, council members July 14 considered how that money – around $1 million – could fund other recreational amenity improvements, such as a parking expansion at the Southern Recreation Center and updates to the baseball fields at Indian Trails Sports Complex.
The council was split on how the money should be redirected when staff in June asked that the full sum go toward Southern Rec Center parking.
The board tabled that decision to consider how else it could spend the money.
More parking coming to Southern Rec Center in Palm Coast?
In a presentation to the City Council, Carl Cote, the city’s director of stormwater and engineering, listed how the city could reallocate the funds.
The majority of the money, $800,000, would go toward expanding parking at the Southern Rec Center.
The effort hopes to add 115 parking spaces to the site, which offers several pickleball courts, tennis courts, community gardens, a dog park and more.
The city would spend another $110,000 on new field safety netting around Baseball Field 2 at Indian Trails — something Vice Mayor Theresa Pontieri suggested last month.
The idea is to put a 21-foot net “on the sidelines and possibly a partial extent of outfield fence,” Cote said.
With the ongoing Orange State League – a brand-new collegiate-level league featuring a Palm Coast team – “there’s lot of foul balls and line drives and home runs that are going outside the field area, causing safety concerns,” Cote added.
Another $40,000 would be used to install five new batting cages, and $10,000 to extend the bullpen fence at Field 2 from 6 to 10 feet.
What about a new Palm Coast skate park?
While the Indian Trails parking project surplus won’t be used for a new skate park, the board still plans to build a park in town.
Officials discussed the need to bring a new skate park to a more centralized area within the city.
The skate park at Wadsworth Park is owned by the county and distant from most Palm Coast residents who want to use it. It is located along State Road 100, just before the Moody Boulevard bridge.
The Ralph Carter Park skate park on Rymfire Drive is approximately 4,900 square feet in size. Built in 2009, officials and skaters say it’s on the smaller side and somewhat outdated.
Among the potential locations suggested were the YMCA facility, which is coming to Town Center, or at the Palm Coast Aquatics Center at Parkview Drive.
Residents advocate for skate park in Palm Coast
Several young residents, many of whom were teenagers, voiced their support for the idea during the meeting.
Carden Ramirez, 12, said he loves skateboarding “because it take me outside, away from video games and active with my friends.”
He recounted his experience at a skateboard camp in Tampa, which showed him “what a modern, concrete skate park can be.”
Ramirez argued that the city’s continued growth calls for skate park options within Palm Coast to be expanded, as the city does with basketball courts, pickleball courts, playgrounds and other amenities.
“It’s not just a skate park, it’s a place where kids can exercise, build confidence, make friends, stay active and spend time with their families,” he said. “I know there are many important projects in our city, but I hope you’ll remember that investing in kids is also investing in Palm Coast’s future.”
Judson O’Neill also advocated for a concrete skate park, saying a centralized skate park would bring it closer to the north side of the city.
“A skate park up there would add to the youth culture in Palm Coast,” O’Neill said, saying he “hardly” skates at all. “But I still find myself hanging around skate parks a lot … I think skate parks brings a lot of the youth together.”
Councilman Ty Miller asked that staff return to the board at a future date “with location options and estimates for cost of design.”
Cote said he could bring the information to the board in August.
— Brenno Carillo is a local government reporter covering Flagler County, including Palm Coast and Flagler Beach, for The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Palm Coast still undecided on use of surplus funds, skate park on hold
Reporting by Brenno Carillo, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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By Brenno Carillo, Daytona Beach News-Journal | USA TODAY Network
