Karl Baker

The News Journal

The transformation of a concrete lot into a skate park under Interstate 95 in Wilmington is moving forward after more than a decade of discussion, but residents will have at least one more chance to express opinions to state officials.

The News Journal last year reported about the plan to build the $1 million state-of-the-art skate park on the vacant lot where grass and weeds grow on Liberty Street underneath I-95. Plans call for the 18,000-square-foot park to be developed by the city and Wilmington Skate Project, a nonprofit organization formed to create free skateboarding facilities.

Plans call for various inclines, rails and obstacles for skateboarders and other wheeled outdoor enthusiasts to enjoy. The project has been in the works for 16 years.

The Delaware Department of Transportation is scheduled to hold a public hearing about the proposed $1, 25-year lease of the vacant lot to the city. The meeting is 1-2 p.m. Nov. 1 in the Brandywine Room of the Delaware Transit Corp. facility at 119 Lower Beech St. in Wilmington.

The park was the brainchild of former city Councilman Kevin Kelley, said DelDOT spokesman and city Councilman Bud Freel.

A skate park can improve the aesthetic of area around I-95 and the health of city residents, said Kelley, who ran for mayor of Wilmington this year and lost in the September primary. It also can attract people from a cross-section of the city, he said.

"It's a multi-demographic sport," he said. "And if you look at skateboarders, the majority are in good physical shape."

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At the request of Rep. Helene Keeley, D-Wilmington South, state lawmakers in 2014 appropriated $450,000 for the project. As violent crime has persisted at high levels in Wilmington during the past year, residents have called for more city parks tailored to the interests of young people. Skate parks currently are in Newport and near the confluence of the Christina and Brandywine rivers in Wilmington.

Contact Karl Baker at (302) 324-2329 or kbaker@delawareonline.com.