A Dream Come True

Attending the May 20 Sturgeon Bay Common Council meeting for the final piece of the skatepark funding puzzle were, from left, Kirsten Dixner Young and 2-year-old Benjamin, Sturgeon Bay Skatepark Initiative co-chairs Matt Dixner Young and Laurel Hauser, Claudia Dubuque, Cobain Swender, Rashad Cosby, Tommy Hauser, George DuBuque, Draeden Goettelman-Hodges and Luke Warner.

There was no high-fiving, no shouts of joy in the Sturgeon Bay Common Council chambers the night of May 20, yet there was a sense of elation and accomplishment in the room, emanating from the group of skateboarders who attended the meeting as the city deliberated the final piece of the puzzle for the Sturgeon Bay Skatepark Initiative (SBSI), which was to award a contract to build the park on the corner of West Spruce Street and Green Bay Road on Sturgeon Bay’s west side.

The $317,500 contract was awarded to low bidder Dreamland Skateparks of Lincoln City, Ore. Shovels go into the ground in mid-June and a grand opening of the new skatepark is expected in late September or early October.

“It’s finally actually happening,” said Tommy Hauser, son of SBSI co-chair Laurel Hauser, after the contract was awarded. “It’s a lot off your shoulders.”

George Dubuque, one of the other young skateboarders involved in the three-year grassroots effort to raise the $400,000 necessary to build the skatepark, said other Sturgeon Bay skateboard kids had dreamed of getting a skatepark built, but they never had the dedicated group of adults backing the project that this group had.

He and the other skateboarders in attendance said they got a real sense of accomplishment by being a part of the long process to raise the money to build a skatepark. And George won’t even be able to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

“George has worked really hard on this and he’s going to be leaving for Seattle in August, right before it’s going to be built,” said Laurel Hauser. “But he’s got such good karma for the future.”

The word “legacy” is mentioned and George agrees that even though he’s leaving, it will be with the satisfaction that kids will be skating in a cool park that he helped build.

Hauser said a changing cast of characters has always been a part of the initiative because, like George, some of the skaters have grown up and moved away, but those in attendance at the Common Council meeting were part of the core group that has seen the project through from start to an imminent finish.

Once the Common Council voted to award the contract, Council President Ron Vandertie pointed out how this momentous vote came to be because its supporters really owned the project.

“Laurel and her crew over here nickel and dimed it, from dollars to thousands of dollars,” Vandertie said.

He mentioned that the skatepark will be highly visible and he expects it will soon be recognized as a beautiful asset to the city’s park system.

“I think it’s going to be done very well,” he said.

“So maybe you and I will have to get our skateboards tested out,” Mayor Thad Birmingham responded. (The kids later said they would be happy to give the mayor and council members some lessons once the park opens.)

In a release announcing that SBSI had reached the fundraising goal necessary to bring the project before the council, SBSI co-chair Matt Dixner Young pointed out the far-reaching nature of the initiative for the young people who have been involved.

“Central to this project has been the involvement of the kids,” he said. “They’ve done everything from helping to design the park, to speaking at council and committee meetings to selling hot dogs and going on personal donor visits. They’ve really earned their park. And, they’ve received a civics lesson and had a lot of fun in the process.”

“This has truly been a community supported project,” Laurel Hauser told the Common Council before they awarded the contract. She thanked all the supporters and donors in the city and greater Door County community who helped make the skatepark dream a reality.

“Even this past winter it was hard raising the last thousands of dollars. There were some dark nights,” Hauser said after the meeting, “But, ultimately, the community was great in supporting it. We had old ladies coming up to us, telling us how much they hoped it would happen.”

Three well-known skatepark construction companies bid on the Sturgeon Bay project, but the contract was awarded to low bidder Dreamland Skateparks of Lincoln City, Ore. The contract calls for Dreamland to construct a 10,000-square-foot colored concrete facility at a cost of $317,500.

Dreamland has built skateparks in many locations, but Sturgeon Bay will be only its third skatepark in Wisconsin. It previously built skateparks in Lake Delton and Weston.

High bidder at $394,580 was Grindline Skateparks of Seattle, which was hired by SBSI in 2012 to design the park.

SBSI is still accepting contributions for park amenities such as benches, a viewing area and signage. SBSI is a fund of the Door County Community Foundation. Contributions may be sent to DCCF, P.O. Box 802, Sturgeon Bay, WI  54235 or made online at doorcountycommunityfoundation.org.