Most of late winter and mid spring, Deig Brothers Construction moved yards and yards of earth to form the foundation of Sunset Skate Park near the Ohio River in Evansville. They completed this phase — Phase 1, in late April.
Today, the future site of the park looks a bit like an abandoned putt-putt course, with grass growing over pits and mounds and unfinished light poles and utility conduits jutting from the ground.
But this is only temporary, as the city waits for the designer, Hunger Skateparks, to finish other projects.
Garmong Construction Services was approved by the Parks Board of Commissioners early last month for Phase II — the concrete work of the park — with a cost of $1.3 million.
They will operate under the supervision of Hunger Skateparks out of Bloomington.
“It's a necessary evil of getting groundwork done,” said Steve Schaefer, interim parks director. “And then we're simply at the mercy of the skatepark designer, because there are only a few of them that do these types of projects in the world. And so we're waiting on them (to) get started, and it will happen.”
He said the design for the park is complete, and Hunger Skateparks has two projects ahead of this one.
Schaefer said this project is in their ‘chute’ of projects, but said Phase II is all the cool stuff like the above ground concrete work and park features.
When announced in December Sunset Skatepark was set to be the largest of its kind in the state.
The final design includes an oval track and two different bowls among other features, which should cater to skaters and bike riders of many skill levels.
Schaefer still expects the park to be completed by the end of the year.
