The One and Only Skate Park Project in Fowlerville, MI

A lot is happening! A portable skate park, planning the BMX dirt trails and more... When we get a moment's rest, we'll update this site with details and photos. Until then, visit us at the skate park and we'll talk!

The Washout skate park is open four days a week at United Brethren Church's big parking lot. A weekly schedule is posted at the library, post office, Lumpy & Goomers, the hardware store, lumber yard, coffee shop and at Hills.

Double O BMX Dirt Trails in Fowlerville's Community Park

On Tuesday, June 10th, core members of the BMX dirt trails project met at the Community Park to design the trails.

L-R: Pat Costella, Don Paquette, Jeff Zumbach, William Pittman, Kyle Pobursky and Greg Pittman.

On Thursday, June 12th, we presented this proposal to Larry Clark. Here are two images of the Double O Dirt Trails. Afterwards, there was some time for a brief session in the tennis area.

Kyle Pobursky

Pat Costella

William Pittman

Portable Summer Skate Park in Fowlerville soon

We spoke to Pastor Tim Flickinger of United Brethren Church on Sunday, June 15. He's interested and excited about a "Summer Camp" of designing, building and using a portable skate park in Fowlerville, 2003--and hosting it in the large parking lot of his church.

Here is the proposal we gave to him. Here are two images of the modules and slide rails we're going to build. There will be two of each module--two ramps, two tables, two inclined planes. And there will be just one of each of the rail systems. The good thing is we can rearrange the modules in different configurations each time we set up the skate park. Throughout the summer we can add other modules.

We have a building team assembled and are looking forward to beginning the week of June 16. We will hold a final skate park design meeting on Thursday, June 19, before picking up the lumber on Friday, and beginning construction on Saturday.

Earlier, we held a planning & design meeting in the Community Park in Fowlerville on Saturday, June 7 at 2 p.m. with BMX riders, skateboarders and inline skaters to discuss construction of dirt trails and installation of a portable skate park in Fowlerville this summer.

Attendees (left to right): Calvin McFarlin (Skateboard), Ryan U'Ren (BMX), Chris Schaffier (Skateboard), David Weimer (Inline/Organizer), Jeff Zumbach (BMX), William Pittman (BMX) and Chris Cassel (Inline). Pat Castilo (BMX) met earlier with David.

We divided into two teams. A BMX design team and a skate park design/builder team. Calvin, Ryan, Chris S., Chris C. and David will be on the portable skate park building/design team. William, Jeff, Pat and a BMX rider not present, Don Paquette, will be on the BMX trails design/building team.

David presented a design and a plan of action for the proposed BMX trails in the Community Park to members of the Parks and Recreation Committee, Larry Clark and Toni Casali, on Thursday, June 12.

The Fowlerville Village Council meets again on Monday, June 16, 2003, at 7:30 p.m. in the Village Offices, across from Rosati's on Fowlerville Rd.

This is a chance for us to address the council again, urging them to take swift action on the BMX dirt trails proposal. We have the right, during a "call to the public" at the beginning of the council meeting, to stand up and say something.

The proposal that we gave to Larry Clark, Village Council member and Chair of the Parks and Recreation Committee, will be handed over to 'risk assessment' and may, at the earliest, be decided upon by the council on Monday, June 30.

At the June 16 meeting, several BMX, skateboard and inline enthusiasts, as well as some parents and a newspaper reporter, will be on hand. Hopefully we can impress upon the members of the council the need for dirt trails!

We are ready and really hope that we'll have dozers and shovels in action not long after the 16th of June, just in time for kids getting out of school.

As we tell anyone who'll listen: we want to do something NOW, this summer. The best chance for this seems to be a set of BMX dirt trails in an unused corner of the Community Park and a portable skate park in church and/or business parking lots.

"The 40" dirt trails near Bishop Lake in Brighton.

William Pittman at the Arbor Dirt Track in Howell.

Building a small, temporary skate park in one half of the tennis area in the Community Park is on hold because of the cost of building a dividing fence between the tennis courts and the proposed skate park area.

We are funding 100% of the skate park and we don't have the cash for extra fences at the moment.

David met with staff at the Fowlerville Village Offices on Tuesday, June 3rd to discuss a skate park and BMX trails in the Community Park in Fowlerville. Tony Casali (Dept. of Public Works director) and Larry Clark (village council member), both members of the Parks and Recreation Committee, and the Fowlerville Police Chief were there. This came one day after David, Andree and Guillaume attended the latest Council Meeting to appeal for action.

It became clear that the fence would cost a lot and we would have to pay for it all. Nix. Plus, there was A LOT of resistence to our plan of a skate park and trails. When we dropped the skate park, suddenly building some BMX trails seemed possible. And since most of the serious planners and builders are BMX riders, a light was seen in the clouds...

All is not lost with the skate park. "Plan B" is to build a portable skate park that we'll install in village church and other businesses' parking lots a few hours each day. It would be supervised and we could organize lessons and competitions. AT LEAST we would have something for the large skateboard population in Fowlerville to do this summer.

The word is NOW. There is a need , and we have the time at the moment. The future is uncertain, but what IS sure is: If we do something NOW, we can always say we did it. Tomorrow is always tomorrow.

When we moved to David's hometown of Fowlerville, Michigan from France, our goal was to get settled into our new home and country.

It wasn't long, however, before we saw:

Skateboarders and BMX riders were everywhere, especially in Centenniel Park behind the fire station and library. This is a small public park with a playground and basketball area. A favorite place for skateboarders and riders is under a pavilion, not far from a sign in Centenniel Park which reads: NO SKATEBOARDING, INLINE SKATING, BICYCLE RIDING.

We knew we were in the right town!

Talk is not worth much. Action is better. Let's do something.

David works in the evenings, so this Summer Camp idea is perfect for our schedule. In the fall, we can perhaps approach local businesses and organizations for support for a permanent public skate park in Fowlerville. Let's see.

That's all for now. Check back for more updates and info.