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The City of Houghton will be getting a new skatepark, but its location has been the subject of debate.
Arguments were presented to the city council at their regular meeting Wednesday on whether to build the park at Kestner Waterfront Park or in the East Houghton Waterfront Park.
The city council settled that debate by voting 4-2 to put the park on the city’s east side, much to the chagrin of Houghton, MI Skatepark Group founder Alex Aho.
Aho said, “In my mind, Kestner Park is a no-brainer. I brought up all the points I had in the presentation and I think that, overall, it’s absolutely the superior location as far as building a skatepark goes. My primary fear, as a skateboarder, of choosing East Houghton over Kestner Park was the opportunities for physical expansion and building up, but I think as long as the water level doesn’t rise seven feet in ten years, then I think that, hopefully, we’ll be able to accommodate to that.”
Despite his disappointment, Aho says it’s still fantastic that the city wants to support a skatepark by offering one of their prime waterfront parks to build it at.
“I think (the reason) a lot of people have had trouble with building a skatepark in the first place is that you need to convince people it’s a good idea altogether,” Aho said. “Then from the people you need to convince, you need to convince the city that it’s a good idea. And here—it’s already in the city master plan.”
The group has raised about $17,000 in their first two months, with a goal for the first phase of the park at about $125,000.
Additional phases are planned for later.
Construction is targeted for next Spring.
