Image by Flickr user soleir Soon to be seen slightly less?
Update October 14: There's still no expected completion date, but the Charleston City Paper is reporting that Charleston County's Park and Recreation Commission has picked a designer, Florida's Team Pain.
Check out the paper's report here, and learn more about the company on their website and Facebook page.
Update June 16: A footnote update here to mention The Post and Courier's follow to yesterday's report in the Charleston City Paper.
It doesn't have much in the way of new information, but does talk a bit more about the resistance Parks and Recreation folks are getting, and their general enthusiasm for the park and what it could mean for the downtown and area economy.
Update June 15: At long last plans for the skate park are rolling again.
The Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission told the Charleston City Paper that it plans to go a head and pony up some $60,000 in cash to get the site planned for approval by Federal Highway Administration and S.C. Department of Transportation approval.
And the pair of groups could easily block the park if they don't like the proposal, lost cash or not.
Read about what's up at the Charleston City Paper.
And get the background on the plan (and the bog down) below.
Update April 25: It's been well over a year since plans for the downtown Charleston skatepark were announced — yet, there's been little public progress.
Live 5 News followed up and chatted with local skate advocates as well as those with skatepark advocacy group Pour It Now on the land-use roadblock; check out the video report here.
Update April 22, 2010, in defense: If you've been following the criticism the park has been getting, know that the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission's Executive Director Tom O'rourke has written and impassioned defense in The Post and Courier, saying in part, "These people should know that if they do not use the new skate park and do not pay the user fee, none of their money is going to support this facility." Read his piece here.
Update April 3, debate: The Post and Courier has published a story on the news with little new information. But what's of interest isn't the news, but how the paper is poking fun of the idea.
While the writer, David Slade, points out towards the end how this sort of a park is the sort of thing the PRC generally gets behind and he points out even odder things the group funds (example: the Mullet Hall Equestrian Center), it doesn't stop the paper from belittling the idea at the get go.
The story was the center piece on today's front page with a large headline that reads "Dude, for real?" The second paragraph reads "Two. Million. Dollars." I'm not quite sure why they've picked up a negative slant on the project, particularly when they didn't even blink at news the City of Charleston would be heavily involved in the more-than $100 million make over of the Gaillard Municipal Auditorium. There's a real argument of the positive economic impact such a park could bring, plus the additional room it allows the city to push skateboarding off the streets.
Here's another link to their piece.
First reporting: The Charleston City Paper is reporting that for the first time in decades downtown Charleston may get a skate park thanks to a $2 million commitment by Charleston County Parks and Recreation.
Get the scoop on what, when, and why on their site.
I dropped a Google map of the spot below.
