Community Helps Light Shine at Skatepark

Skatepark lights arrive. Submitted.

Sturgeon Bay – This week, the poles and lights arrived that will illuminate the Sturgeon Bay Skatepark. Then it will take a couple of weeks of electrical work by volunteers from Eland Electric before the lights will be operational, according to the Friends of the Sturgeon Bay Skatepark.

“As we get into the fall season, the days are getting short,” said Paul Fruzyna, Friends committee co-chair. “Having lights at the park will provide the kids a safe place to stay active and have fun.”

The City of Sturgeon Bay had intended to fund the lights until COVID-19 hit and the project was removed from the budget. Having already waited years for lighting, Fruzyna and co-chair Matt Young decided to try to find the funds to get the project back on track. 

The goal was to raise $75,000 by the end of the year. With the help of several local businesses, the Raibrook Foundation, the City of Sturgeon Bay and Eland Electric, they accomplished their goal in a little more than four months.

“I knew that if we gave the community the opportunity to help us, they would,” Young said.

Eland Electric has had crews working in Door County during the past year at Sevastopol and Sturgeon Bay schools, so Todd Smith, a foreman with Eland Electric, saw an opportunity to pitch in. The company committed to supplying the labor and some materials, and giving the project a huge push forward to completion, it also secured a major donation from the local Electrical Workers Union. 

“This is a way we could give back to the community,” Smith said.