It’s been a while since I’ve heard anything regarding the skate plaza that Buffalo Microparks first proposed back in 2008. With all of the progress happening along the Buffalo River and Canalside, covering the project was put on the back burner. Plus, with no real interest from The City, and changing promotional faces, there hasn’t been much to cover anyways. Until today. As if out of thin air, The City wants to put something in the ground by next summer, and they want to pay for it. This is no joke. This is reality. The Buffalo Skate Group, consisting of local skaters and Buffalo Microparks met with the parks department, The Mayor and public works. It looks like it’s going to be a project that will land in LaSalle Park – this significant news comes on the heels of Mayor Brown requesting to meet with promoters of the skate plaza. Mayor Brown actually showed up at Sunday Skate yesterday along with Steve Stepniak (Public Works) and Andy Rabb (Parks and Recreation) to talk to the skateboarding community (photo). The project is estimated to cost between $150,000 to $200,000 (for phase 1). Microparks will be raising money alongside The City.
This is big news for the alternative sports scene in Buffalo. When Jay ‘Micropark’ McCarthy talked to The Mayor, he told Jay that the grassroots effort would take too long for a project of this magnitude – he said that he believed in the project and would do whatever it would take to get the job done. The Mayor has asked that a petition be started so that he can prove that the community supports this effort. A petition will be drafted tonight and posted on Buffalo Rising in the morning. If you know of any skaters or people who support this concept, tell them to tune into BRO in the morning. With The Mayor’s nod and enough signatures, we’re going to get a professionally designed skate plaza with funding coming from the capital budget.
Get ready to add your name, address and age…