I just got this off of the Altoona Mirror's site, and thought it would be helpful to our Tyrone Skate Park Group:
Group raising funds for Altoona Skatepark
By William Kibler,
bkibler@altoonamirror.com POSTED: May 26, 2008 Save | Print | Email | Read comments | Post a comment
Email: "Group raising funds for Altoona Skatepark"
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Fact Box
To donate
Visit
http://www.blairbikeandboard.com and download the donation form. The forms must be mailed, but the group hopes to
set up a PayPal account to make donating easier.
The group that wants to build a skate park at the intersection of Interstate 99 and Frankstown Road near Blair County Ballpark is trying to raise $15,000 by month’s end for a master site plan.
Blair Bike & Board has raised $7,000 toward developing a $1.6 million complex with playground, walking track, pavilions, restrooms and lights, said group president Tim Boland, a skateboarder and Roosevelt Junior High School teacher.
The group will use the site plan to help raise the rest of the money, said Mike Hofer, interim executive director of the Central Blair Recreation and Park Commission.
In a letter to prospective sponsors, Boland touts the 28,000-square-foot skate park as an alternative for kids to “drugs, alcohol and crime in a free, healthy, family-oriented environment.”
It “sends a message that Altoona is a progressive city with an eye on the future,” Boland writes.
The campaign includes “Bricks for Bucks,” a fundraiser in which $50 will get donors’ names engraved on bricks for an arch at the facility. The group has sold about 70 so far.
The group also has set up donation tiers: bronze, silver, gold and platinum, the latter for $100,000 or more.
The group has applied through U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-9th District, for a federal grant of $200,000, which requires a 50-50 match, Boland said.
Blair Bike & Board will apply next year for a grant of undetermined amount from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, also requiring a 50-50 match.
It can include “in-kind” donations of labor and supplies, Hofer said.
While Blair Bike & Board is working to raise the money, Hofer said Central Blair Rec is collecting the money. That is because CBRC is considered a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and contributions would be tax-deductible.
On behalf of the group, the city is working on a lease with PennDOT for the 1.5-acre site tucked between I-99 and a county-owned pick-up ballfield off Frankstown Road, where Park Avenue intersects. The lease is necessary before applying for the DCNR grant.
At the same time, the Altoona Curve is trying to work out a lease with PennDOT for an acre on the other side of an access road from Park Avenue to add parking to make up for spaces it will lose to the widening of Park Avenue.
The department will require the parties to reimburse it for continuing to maintain the access road and a bridge along it over Brush Run. Both the road and bridge are in good shape and won’t need much work for 20 years, predicted PennDOT District 9 design services engineer Ed Stoltz.
Otherwise, the department would demolish the bridge, said City Manager Joe Weakland.
Weakland expects PennDOT to charge a nominal fee to lease the ground.