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Fountain, seating planned for Durango Skate Park

Design will start in the fall

Skaters, cyclists and those enjoying a stroll with their dog will be able to refresh themselves with water and a shady seat by the Durango Skate Park in 2017.

The city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board has set aside $75,000 for a drinking fountain, seating and shade in the area, and design will start this fall, said Cathy Metz, parks and recreation director.

The public will be invited to give feedback on designs in the fall, after a landscape architect has been hired.

“I am sure we’ll get new ideas that will do nothing but improve the park,” she said.

She expects design of the area to cost about $25,000 and construction to be about $50,000. Extending a water line from Roosa Avenue to the new fountain contributed to the cost.

This year, the Durango City Council set aside $170,000 for these kinds of parks improvements, and the advisory board spent the first part of the year setting priorities.

Karen Rowan, grandmother of an avid skater, has advocated for the fountain and shaded seating for two years. She believes it will make the area more functional and also draw in people to the park to make it safer.

“Its proximity to downtown makes it even more logical,” she said.

To support the project, Rowan committed to raise $7,000 for the drinking fountain that will serve humans and dogs.

So far, she has raised $4,600 from businesses.

“My group of merry men is getting larger by the minute,” she said.

She also founded Thrasher Thursdays, competitions at the Skate Park now in their second year, to focus the atmosphere at the park on athletics.

During the first season of Thrasher Thursdays, the competitions drew about 300 skaters to the six events and lots of casual spectators.

“We shared an experience with the community families and users of the river trail who actually stopped and watched the competition and enjoyed a sport they had never been exposed to before,” she said.

This year, she is recruiting four skaters to help organize events and to serve as ambassadors to explain events to spectators. “It builds stewardship,” she said.

Those who are interested in contributing money to the construction can visit the GoFundMe site.

mshinn@durangoherald.com

To Give

To donate to the Durango Skate Park drinking fountain and seating, visit

gofundme.com/29qas8n8

.

Thrasher Thursdays

Durango Skate Park competitions will be held at 6 p.m. at the Durango Skate Park on July 7, July 21, Aug. 4 and Aug. 25.

Registration is free.

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