BY ADAM ATKINSON

North Country This Week

POTSDAM — SLC Arts is seeking to form a partnership with the village to be able to obtain a wider range of grant funding for a village skate and sculpture park on Fall Island Park.

The skate park would be 10,000 square feet and cost as much as $600,000, according to preliminary concepts, SLC Arts Director Maggie McKenna told the village board of trustees at their meeting Feb. 7.

“And, the reason the arts council is involved is because it's really important that it has an aesthetic component to it, that it’s a skateable sculpture park, so it’s not just popping some ramps and metal pieces around. (That) it's really integrated into the space and into the community. Available for people of all ages and all abilities. People start their kids skateboarding nowadays as soon as they can walk and people are able to use skateboards through all ages,” McKenna said.   

McKenna said the Potsdam Lions Club, which supports the park, has already pledged $10,000 to the skate park project. In addition, local native Matt Mazzotta, an MIT architect, has agreed to donate all of his design fees to help develop the concepts for the park. Preliminary ideas for the park are focusing on highlighting the region's entrepreneurial history with references to Lifesavers (founded in Gouverneur), Gibson Guitars (founder Orville Gibson is buried in Malone) and Rushton Canoes (built in Canton).

The committee working on the skate park project has also reached out to the Tony Hawk  Foundation, formed by famed competitive skateboarder Tony Hawk, for some guidance on the project, SLC Arts board member Melissa Faulkner told the board of trustees.

Faulkner said one of their recommendations was to work with Pillar Design Studios, formed by Potsdam native Brad Siedlecki. Siedlecki’s company has built similar parks in Saranac Lake, Saratoga Springs and Syracuse. SLC Arts has spoken with the company and obtained estimates on the work for the 10,000 square foot park. The cost could be as high as $600,000, McKenna told the board.

McKenna said the SLC Arts board has voted to support the project as a cosponsor with the village. She said cosponsorship, with SLC Arts as a nonprofit organization and the village as a municipality, would allow the project to apply for a wider range of grant funding to pay for the $600,000 park.

The skatepark project was one of the projects that traversed the village’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant program a couple years ago, but didn’t make the final cut of projects to be funded by the state. Village Planner Fred Hanss said although the project didn’t end up on the final list of projects to be funded, having gone through the planning process and been reviewed by the state, the skatepark may be able to leverage other grants readily since the legwork has already been done.

“Given the fact that it was included in the DRI strategic investment plan, unfortunately non-funded, but it was included in the plan, I think the chances of us being able to secure state funding for this project would be good,” Hanss said. Hanss said that any projects listed in the strategic investment plan automatically get a “jump” in scoring from state agencies which distribute grants.

Hanss added that if the project could come up with 20 to 25 percent of the overall funding, that might cover the usual local match required by state grants and that the partnership idea between the village and SLC Arts is a good one.

In a related development, two projects (proposed expansions at the Clarkson Inn and Scoops ice cream stand) which were approved to receive over $700,000 in state funding through the village’s DRI program have dropped out, leaving the money on the table. The state will be reviewing the village’s strategic investment plan to find project work to replace it. The skatepark could potentially be considered by the state as a funding recipient.

After some discussion, the board agreed to put the matter on the agenda for the next meeting for discussion and consideration of a resolution to be a project co-sponsor with SLC Arts.