Village officials, skaters meet to plan skate park

An unlikely group met in Jaycee Ehlert Park Tuesday night.

Village officials, two planners from Hitchcock Design Group and a group of skate-boarding teens met in the pavilion at the park to discuss a planned skate park to be built later this year.

“The meeting was planned because the village wanted input from the kids,” said Assistant Village Manager Keith Sbiral, who added that a meeting like this is probably a first in the history of the town.

Hitchcock Design Group, based in Naperville, has the contract to build the park. Team members Andy Howard and Andrea Lawrence gave a brief presentation to the 220 teenagers present and then passed out surveys so each skater could describe how they would like the park designed. The input from the surveys will help to determine what kind of “trick Components” (jumps, rails, etc.) will be built.

“HDG will go through all of the surveys to see what is the most popular,” Village Planner Meena Beyers said.

One skater, 14-year-old Damon Kuiz, said he and his friends usually skate in La Grange and Brookfield, but are always chased out by police.

“I've wanted a park like this right after I learned how to skate,” he said.

The 5,000-square-foot park will be located behind the fire station in Ehlert Park and building is set to begin this fall. It will be unsupervised, although rules will be posted and emergency numbers will be listed there. The budget is projected at $200,000.