Elburn receives a donation of skate park equipment

ELBURN – It may have taken years, but the village of Elburn is on its way to fulfilling the wishes of several young skateboarders. Four Kaneland Harter Middle School students and their teacher attended a Village Board meeting in April 2015 with a request for a skate park where they could safely engage in their sport.

At the time, officials said the village didn’t have the money to fulfill the request. When village staff researched the surrounding communities that already had skate parks, they found that a Batavia skate park had cost $65,000, with an additional $108,000 for the slab and fencing work.

In October, Village President Jeff Walter and Village Administrator John Nevenhoven were at a Metro West Council of Government meeting when they came across an opportunity to access some skate park equipment. In a chance conversation between Nevenhoven and the village administrator of Gilberts, George Sakas, Nevenhoven learned that Gilberts was looking to dispose of skateboard equipment that had fallen into disuse.

The two villages worked out a nominal fee of $10 for the equipment with the agreement that Elburn personnel would disassemble it and transport it away.

“This is a great opportunity for us,” Walter said.

Walter explained that although Elburn has a tot park for younger children and Lions Park has playground equipment for older children, there is not a lot for teenagers to do in town.

According to Sakas, the equipment, which was valued at nearly $27,000 in 2003, needs extensive refurbishment, and the condition of the underlying asphalt is poor. Since the park wasn’t really being used any longer, Gilberts officials did not feel it was worth the money it would take to bring it back to a usable condition. The village was looking at options for salvaging it.

Sakas said the value of the equipment in 2003 when Gilberts had purchased it was $26,770. Today, the depreciated value is closer to $10,500.

According to Walter, village staff have disassembled the equipment and are in the process of bringing it back to Elburn. Now Elburn will need to find a place to locate the skate park, where young people can get some skating done and have some fun.

He would like to find a centralized location for the skate park, a place where skateboarders won’t need a ride to get to it.

Walter said they are considering several options, including the property next to Elburn Village Hall behind the U.S. Army tank and the lot at North and 1st Street.

Public Works employees will spend the winter refurbishing the equipment, so it will be ready to install in the spring.

Walter said he would appreciate assistance with the repairs from interested skateboarders, as well as input on where to put the park.