A skate park is officially on the plans for Sunset Park on 16th Street. The Orange City Council Tuesday approved extra federal community development block grant money to pay for the project.
The skate park will cost about $131,000. The council had previously approved about $85,000 for the project, but the equipment alone cost that much. Some of the other block grant projects were under budget and the city is able to move that money for the skate park.
The skate park will be a fenced area on the northeast corner of the park. The area will have a 50-foot-by-90-foot concrete pad with features like a quarter pipe, bank ramps, wedges and a grind rail.
District 2 Councilor Dr. Wayne Guidry questioned whether a skate park will impact most citizens. “How many skaters do we have in Orange?” he asked. “Will more citizens benefit from another project?”
District 1 Councilor Pat Pullen, a retired police officer, said police were often called to run off skateboarders from businesses or government properties. He said the skateboard park will be used.
At-Large Councilor Larry Spears said a lot of business owners would like a skate park so the skateboarders stay off their properties. “I know a lot of people want it,” he said.
Federal community development block grants must be spent in low-income areas. Sunset Park qualifies for the money.
In other business, the council approved a resolution to ask the Texas Department of Transportation to lower the speed limit on Martin Luther King Drive north of Interstate 10.
The current speed limit is 70 miles per hour and the city has had requests to lower it to 55.
City Manager Dr. Shawn Oubre said the city has asked for the change before. TxDOT did a survey and decided the 70 miles per hour was appropriate.
He said the churches on the state road have asked for the lower limit.
Orange County Commissioners Court recently approved a resolution asking for the lower speed. Parts of the road are in the city limits and part in the county’s jurisdiction.
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