Medina closing in on $250K fundraising goal for new skate park
Photo by Joanne Zimmerman: Members of the Medina Skate Society are shown with local supporters at 2019 Rip into Summer Skate Jam.
Anonymous donors challenge community to raise remaining $50,000 of a matching Built-To-Play Skate Park Grant at Butts Park
Press Release, Medina Skate Society
MEDINA – The Village of Medina will be building a new public concrete skate park over the next year thanks to a pair of area donors who wish to remain anonymous. With their generous contributions the Medina Skate Society will have raised over $202,000 towards a new public skate park on South Main Street.
Along with remaining anonymous our largest donors would like to give others in the community an opportunity to contribute to the project, notably in the last month of fundraising towards a total matching grant of $250,000 from the Tony Hawk & Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundations.
The grant deadline is March 30 at which point every dollar that has been raised will be doubled and the Village of Medina could have $500,000 to build a skate park. Medina will be building an awesome new skate park, and every dollar donated now until the end of March will decide just how awesome that skate park will be.
The unnamed benefactors along with the Medina Skate Society envision an amazing, visually pleasing skate park that can be appreciated as a recreational playground for skateboarders, bikers, scooters and in-line skaters as well as an architectural work of art. The skate park is anticipated to be a new hub of activity for families, organizations and even radical skateboarding tourists from far and wide.
There are a number of ways to support the Medina Skate Park specifically before the grant funding deadline. Supporters can visit Sk8Medina.com and make a donation of any amount directly to the Medina Skate Society, however larger tax deductible donations should be made out to the Orleans Renaissance Group Inc. PO Box 543 Medina, New York 14103 specifying in the subject line “Skate Park Project.”
There are also several upcoming events including a Soup n’ Skate event at the current skate park at 1211 South Main St. on March 15 from 2 to 4 p.m. (or at the First Presbyterian Church, 522 Main St. in case of inclement weather). Skate Society members will be serving free soup, chili, hot cocoa and coffee to say thank you to supporters, update the community on the project and allow others the opportunity to donate. There will also be meat raffle tickets for $5 each and a drawing for five winners at 4 p.m. the same day.
Canalside Tattoo Company, 540 Main St Medina is also hosting a “Tattoo Flash Sale” the following Saturday, March 21, from noon to 8 p.m. with 50 percent of every tattoo sale going directly towards the Medina Skate Park. Jaded Skate Shop based in Brockport has also donated a skate deck to be raffled off during the event.
Pre-sale tickets are also being sold for the 2nd Annual Cruise for Kick-Flips Motorcycle Run on July 25, again with the hopes of collecting as much funding as possible before the end of this month.
While there is a lot more work ahead in the design & construction phase of the project, it is safe to say the dream of a new skate park in Medina is becoming a reality.
Lastly, the Medina Skate Society will be requesting that the Village of Medina approve officially naming the new skate park the “Luke Nelson Memorial Skate Park” to honor the memory of Luke Nelson who passed away unexpectedly in April of 2017.
Luke’s passion to fix his beloved skate park has inspired family, friends and community members to love and appreciate their local skating scene and skate park. Now nearly three years since Luke expressed his intention to fix the skate park a new one is going to be built, something the Medina Skate Society wants to permanently recognize.
For skate park and fundraising related inquiries contact M.S.S. President Alex Feig at (585) 590-0602 or via email at feigalex@yahoo.com.
