Keweenaw Report Your Source for Local News and Sports
Houghton, Michigan—The Tony Hawk Foundation has selected the Houghton Skatepark Project to be one of its Summer 2016 Tony Hawk Foundation (THF) Skatepark Grant recipients. The project will receive $10,000 from THF to help create a safe skatepark in Houghton. Other grant recipients included Livingston, MT, Providence, RI, Gallup, NM, Grinnell, IA, and Belgrade, MT.
The primary mission of the Tony Hawk Foundation is to promote high quality, public skateparks in low-income areas throughout the United States and to support International programs that enrich the lives of youth through skateboarding. Only organizations seeking to build free, public skateparks in low-income communities in the United States may apply for a grant from THF. Domestically, the foundation’s Skatepark Grant program has awarded over $5.6-million to 574 communities in all 50 states. The foundation focuses on working with local officials and grassroots, community-based organizations that plan to hire designers and contractors with strong experience designing and building skateparks.
Having helped open more than 500 skateparks across the country, the Tony Hawk Foundation is the leading advocacy organization supporting local grassroots efforts, and has provided guidance and training to skatepark groups for more than fifteen years. “Every skatepark is a testimonial to the community’s tenacity and commitment,” said THF Programs Director Peter Whitley. “These are facilities that will bring people together for years to come.”
A group of local community leaders formed in mid-late 2015 with the common goal of helping construct a public concrete skatepark in Houghton, MI. The group is formed of volunteers working in coordination with the city, local businesses, and organizations in the interest of providing a professionally-built, free-to-use, and universally appreciated asset to the community for decades to come. The group’s plan is to build a phase-centric park, with the first phase covering approximately 3200 square feet and costing $125,000. The City of Houghton has committed to donating a parcel of the East Houghton Waterfront Park for the skatepark.
Alex Aho, co-founder of the Houghton Skatepark Project, said, “The Tony Hawk Foundation board is not new to building skateparks. To have their support is an honor and an affirmation that we’ve approached this project correctly.”
Individuals looking to make donations to the Houghton Skatepark Project can do so online at www.keweenawgives.org. All contributions to a permanent endowment of KCF qualify for a Federal Tax Credit.
For more information on the Houghton, MI Skatepark project, please contact houghtonmiskatepark@gmail.com or visit its website at www.houghtonmiskatepark.org. For more information on the Tony Hawk Foundation, please visit www.tonyhawkfoundation.org.
Through philanthropic services, strategic investments and community leadership, Keweenaw Community Foundation helps people support the causes they care about, now and for generations to come. For more information on Keweenaw Community Foundation and how to give, visit its website at www.keweenawgives.org.
A charitable, non-profit organization, the Tony Hawk Foundation was established in 2002 by its namesake, professional skateboarder Tony Hawk. THF promotes and provides technical assistance and funds for high-quality public skateparks in low-income areas throughout the United States that promote healthy, active lifestyles, and to International programs that enrich the lives of youth through skateboarding. For more information, visit www.tonyhawkfoundation.org.
