Painesville city officials and local skateboarders are eyeing a new location for their proposed skate park and seeking state funding to help bring it to life.
The city and Painesville Skateboarding Association recently selected Morse Park, 244 Jefferson St., for the project. The proposed site is next to a parking lot and across Jefferson Street from the park’s community center.
Both groups previously planned to build the new skate park on the site of the current one at Kiwanis Recreation Park. According to an Aug. 19 city manager report, they had to change plans after discussing flood flow with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Jerod Mulqueeny and fellow PSA member McLean Adams said that the new site is larger than the Recreation Park site. Adams added that they can dig deeper at Morse Avenue, since the Recreation Park skate park is built on a former landfill.
“The location in general is nice and tucked away by the electric plant, and it’s right off of a major highway,” Adams said.
City Public Lands and Recreation Director Michelle LaPuma also discussed potential benefits to the community at the Aug. 19 Painesville City Council meeting.
“It’s adding more amenities to another neighborhood,” LaPuma said.
After learning about the proposed new location, council unanimously voted to approve a request for a $55,000 Ohio NatureWorks grant for the project. LaPuma said that the grant recipients are typically selected in November or early December.
Despite the changes, Mulqueeny and Adams said that they have not changed what they plan to bring to Painesville.
They said in a previous interview that they hope to build a concrete “destination skate park” to draw visitors from out of town and replace the current prefabricated park at Recreation Park.
Adams said last year that prefabricated parks fall apart and require constant repairs. The PSA intends for its new park to be “by skateboarders, for skateboarders.”
According to the Aug. 19 city manager report, funding for the project’s first phase will include $150,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding from the Lake County commissioners, $100,000 from Painesville’s 2025 general fund and additional funding that the PSA has raised in partnership with the Painesville Community Improvement Corporation. The report also factored in the $55,000 NatureWorks request.
Mulqueeny added that the PSA is looking to hire Grindline to design the park. He hopes to work on an agreement with the company in the coming weeks, and added that the PSA will pay for the design work.
City Manager Doug Lewis added that if the city is able to add the new skate park, the existing site at Rec Park “would be a perfect location for pickleball.”
The skate park was not the only grant item on council’s Aug. 19 agenda. It also voted to accept funding for a $15,000 state grant, which will fund asset management needs in Painesville’s Water Division.
City Water Superintendent Orin McMonigle said that the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency rules require public water systems to update various asset management and evaluations on a continuous basis.
“Painesville City Water has a complete asset management program but this grant will allow us to hire an engineering firm to assist with the continuous update requirement and improvements to ensure continued compliance with the regulations over the next year,” McMonigle said.