By KEVIN RICH
Special to the PRESS
The South Padre Island Parks and Keep SPI Beautiful committee considered options on whether to move forward with building a skate park at Tompkins Park during a meeting held on Wednesday, March 28.
SPI Director of City Planning Clifford Cross announced that bids were opened on March 19 for the project, and that the City had received two proposals as a result. He reported that the base bids, plus alternatives for additional features came in at between $400,000-$500,000.
Cross presented five options for the committee to consider in moving forward with the project. These included seeking an additional $70,000 from City Council to fund just the base bid, to rebid the project, to incorporate the plan into the second phase of the City’s Tompkins Park project, to pursue a fund raising campaign, or to either scrap or modify the project.
Committee member Pat Rasmussen noted that the size of the proposed skate park is about half as large as the one currently in Los Fresnos. “We’re talking about 3,410 square feet compared to 8,000 at Los Fresnos, so less than half of what Los Fresnos has for $250,000,” said Rasmussen
Assistant City Manager Darla Jones explained that the price of concrete has risen, affecting the potential cost of the project. “If you’re gonna compare it to the Los Fresnos skate park, that was probably built about six, maybe seven years ago, and the price of concrete has shot through the roof,” Jones said.
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