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• Gallery: Ironton's proposed skatepark

IRONTON -- Move over, Red Ryder carbine-action, 200-shot, range model air rifle, because Santa's grinding into Ironton with a brand-new skateboard.

Two recent grants earmarked for Ironton's new skateboarding park have moved the park's completion ahead of schedule, reports Ironton mayor Rich Blankenship.

Just last week, Ironton officials received word they were one of 27 communities to receive a Fall 2008 Skatepark grant from the California-based Tony Hawk Foundation.

Ironton was picked to receive $5,000 from the foundation, which awarded grants this year in both urban and rural communities in 18 states.

Since its inception in 2002, the Tony Hawk Foundation has awarded 427 grants worth more than $2.7 million to help construct free, public skateparks in 48 states.

Other regional cities that received Tony Hawk grants include Hinton, W.Va., which received $5,000; and the western Kentucky the Ohio River city of Owensboro, which received $10,000.

That Tony Hawk jingle for Ironton is on top of a NatureWorks grant of $30,000. Ironton found out in November that it would be receiving the grant from The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Real Estate and Land Management.

The ODNR awarded a total of $1.7 million to develop and improve outdoor recreation opportunities at 90 parks in 58 Ohio counties.

Some of those projects funded by NatureWorks include skate parks, ball fields, basketball courts, pedestrian park bridges, spray and splash parks and the acquisition of new land for parks.

Blankenship said the project to build a skatepark in Ironton is fueled by a spring 2008 survey in the Ironton School District that put a waterpark and then a skatepark as the top recreational places students want to see in the city.

Blankenship said everyone is stoked about the Christmas-time notification from the Tony Hawk Foundation and is looking forward to trying to raise close to $100,000 to really trick out the street-skating park that will go into a greenspace at the corner of Fourth and Etna streets.

"We are pursuing this full-steam ahead," Blankenship said. "We are just very pleased that out of all the places in the country, they found it worthy enough to help us out in our endeavors."

To raise the additional funds, Blankenship said they've already received $13,000 in donations from the Lawrence County Juvenile Court and are sending out a plea to businesses and other philanthropic individuals to gather the rest of the needed funds.

"The Juvenile Court obviously sees a need for activities for youth, and we want to build the recreation department, and this is one step forward to do that," Blankenship said. "We have a lot of youth that ride skateboards up and down the sidewalks, and this will give them a place to display their skills and practice and do their thing."

Ryan Stapleton, owner of Goodwheel, a skate shop that has been at 112 N. Third St., (behind Wendy's) for three years come April, said a skate park is needed because even though there are a lot of skaters in Ironton, they often get forbidden to skate in places downtown.

"Every time I talk to Rich, he is really gung ho about it," Stapleton said. "Right now, the kids are kind of deterred since they've been getting harassed, but they still are skating."

Stapleton said people who don't skate would be surprised to find out who does because he has everyone from teachers to teens come into the shop for gear.

"It's every walk of life that you can imagine," Stapleton said of skateboarders, which are said to number about 22 million worldwide. "There's a guy in Ashland that's 60 that skateboards. That is amazing, and this is all exciting for sure."

Blankenship said they are still in the process of designing the skatepark, which will be geared more toward street skating because about 95 percent of skateboarders street skate, rather than do the vertical skating often seen in contests on TV.

"There is a small park there at Fourth and Etna streets, and that's an area that would be perfect," Blankenship said. "We'll have 10-foot sidewalks with ramps and things of that nature in a circular design, with rails and steps and a couple of ramps."

There will also be picnic tables in the green spaces where people can come and watch.

Blankenship said that since area youth now travel as far as Athens, Ohio, and Lexington, Ky., to skate, he hopes the skatepark will draw in kids from around the area to skate the elements that he hopes can be in place by summer 2009.

"We are designing it ourselves based on what the kids wanted," Blankenship said. "We submitted for designs, and we're trying to put it all together. We're obviously open to ideas. We want all the input we can get."

Blankenship said the good news on the skatepark grants just adds to a year in which he feels the city is making headway from the Ironton in Bloom project and the influx of new businesses to the start of a long-time restoration project for Ironton's downtown theater and the American Legion's project of restoring Memorial Hall.

"We appreciate anyone that can support the project for the youth and for our community," Blankenship said. "It's not only for Ohio, but for Kentucky and West Virginia. It's something to draw people to Ironton to see what is going on there. We feel like we are making some progress, and we welcome those who can come and help. We're not just asking for hand outs, we're doing things ourselves."

Chris Harris/The Herald-Dispatch

Goodwheel skate shop team member Devin Karns ollies on a homemade "grind box" Saturday, December 27, 2008, in Ironton.

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