"Dude that half-cab over that nine set was sick!"
Shovels are about to go into the ground in Farmington Hills, prepping the way for local skateboarders. Skater-to-English dictionaries, however, will be your own responsibility.
Work on the Riley Skate Park is set to begin on May 12 and finish by the end of this summer. Riley promises to be a step above the normal concrete hills, ramps and rails of the typical Midwestern skate park.
It will offer unique features such as an 8-foot-tall cylinder that looks like a sewer pipe built into the ground instead of above it. A variety of in-ground features that look like pits and ditches made of concrete will give it a "West Coast" feel, according to Bryan Farmer, a Farmington Hills recreation supervisor heading up the skate park project.
The 29,000-square-foot park will occupy a corner of Founder's Sports Park at 35500 Eight Mile Road between Gill and Halstead roads near the Farmington Hills Ice Arena. City officials estimate about 200 people will visit skate park each day when it opens.
The skate park is named after George Riley of the Riley Foundation who gave $500,000 toward the project. The skate park is expected to cost $850,000, but Farmer and other organizers hope to raise more to add extra features, such as webcams and lights.
For information on the project, contact Farmer at (248) 473-1805 or BFarmer@fhgov.com.
Source: Bryan Farmer, recreation supervisor for Farmington Hills
Writer: Jon Zemke
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