ORANGEBURG, S.C. — The City of Orangeburg is proposing a new skatepark. City leaders say this means Orangeburg's skateboarding community may be able to have a place to skate that's close to home.
“I’ve been skateboarding since the 1980’s here in Orangeburg," said resident Max Jervey.
Jervey is a longtime resident and skateboarder in the city of Orangeburg.
“Growing up here in town I mainly just skate in the streets, you know, any kind of street park would be awesome with me," he said.
He joins countless others in the community who have voiced their support of the park.
“We have a considerable skating community that really, they just kind of skate arbitrarily, in arbitrary places because they don’t have one, they don’t have a skatepark to go to," said city administrator Sidney Evering.
The proposed skatepark will be located in the Andrew Dibble area of Edisto gardens. The first phase of the project is estimated to be about $1 million. This includes a pump track.
$550,000 will come from the capital project sales tax. Another $500,000 will come from American Rescue Plan Act funds.
In phase two of the development project, a new boardwalk, pickleball court, and sand volleyball court will be built. Phase three includes an outdoor food court and fishing pier.
“I have a vision for like in the future, you know, we could even have a contest during the Rose Festival every year. Call it the Garden City Classic or something like that," said Jervey.
The goal is to begin construction in the fall. People will be able to submit feedback online by filling out a survey. They can also send an email to publiccomment@orangeburg.sc.us.