4/18/17 – Ground will be broken this weekend on a new skate park in Beaver Dam. The city’s Operations Committee last night received an update from the group behind fundraising efforts for the park. The non-profits Matt O’Brion says that the final designs were made possible with help from Water Technologies, a downtown Beaver Dam company that designs pools all over the world. The Beaver Dam school district donated skate board obstacles to the group years ago and all of those items and more will be located on the concrete pad which also will include a ramp, simulated stairs and a quarter pipe. O’Brion says the park was designed in such a way that it is not landlocked and future phases can easily be added on in the future, however he notes that the current fundraising committee will dissolve with the opening of the new park. A bike track has been on the same property since 2013 and a new dog park will open this year across the pond from the bike and skateboarding facility. The park is called the Patrick Parker Conley Park, in memory of a skateboarder from the city who passed away at a young age. It is located on a patch of land off Fletcher Road between Beichl Avenue, County Road E and Highway 151. There is no official ceremony planned for Saturday’s groundbreaking and Earth Day cleanup at the skate park and the preliminary work being done is weather dependent. The cleanup and site prep is planned from 9am until noon. A pulled pork sandwich fundraiser for the park will be held rain or shine at the Beaver Dam Chamber of Commerce office on South Spring Street beginning at 11am on Saturday. The goal is to have the skate park ready by the beginning of June.
