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Boone Greenway Skatepark Receives $72,500 North Carolina Parks and Recreation Grant

By Nathan Ham

The Boone Greenway Skatepark received a major funding boost this week with a matching grant from North Carolina Parks and Recreation. The grant, which totals $72,500, matches the amount of money raised by the community, according to Recess Skate and Snow owner JP Pardy.

“We are just really excited. Getting this grant is huge. We got a setback with the whole COVID-19 situation as far as spring fundraising and summer fundraising. We had a bunch of stuff in the works,” Pardy said. “We still had a good amount of support and getting this grant has just been awesome.”

It is anticipated that the three-phase project will get underway in the spring of 2021.

“The goal right now is to break ground and get started on the park in the spring and hopefully we’ll be skateboarding shortly after that,” said Pardy.

Pardy worked with the town on applying for the grant about six months ago. The grant will match the funds that were raised through donations from individuals in the community, local businesses, and the Town of Boone. The town donated the land where the skatepark will be on as well as $25,000.

“Major thanks to everybody that donated. If you donated $10 it turned into $20, if you donated $500 it turned into $1,000. Without everybody’s hard work and support over the past year, we wouldn’t be where we are at today,” Pardy said.

Pardy added that in the coming months, he will be meeting with skatepark designers and then will have a better idea of how long the project will take to complete one grading and construction begins in the spring.

For updates on the progress of the skatepark, there are two pages on Instagram set up that will provide updates: @boonegreenwayskatepark and @recessNC.

For those who would like to donate to the cause, please visit the GoFundMe page set up for Boone’s Greenway Skatepark by going here: www.gofundme.com/f/boone-greenway-skatepark