The Friends of Manitowoc Skatepark are very grateful for the work done to completely overhaul a local park.
Manitowoc officials held a ribbon-cutting yesterday at the newly improved park on South 35th Street, which is now entirely concrete and no longer has the rotting ramps that were there previously.
Director Kris Kouba says he is very proud of his friends and the people who made the project happen.
He also revealed that the process became much simpler once he posted a video explaining why the project needed to happen.
“A lot of people recognized the value of the skatepark,” he explained. “Which was really all we were trying to communicate that this is an important place. It’s a place that builds community and friendship, and it pushes people to grow and gives people a creative, healthy outlet. And it’s worth investing in.”
Kouba adds that the improvements create more flow in the park because there are more options to use than before.
“The company that did it is called Fifth Pocket,” he noted. “They just did a really good job with maximizing the options in the park and giving us a lot of different things to ride.”
The Friends of Manitowoc Skatepark worked with the West Foundation and the city to help start the project.
The foundation donated $100,000, which the city matched, leaving the Friends to raise $20,000 on its own.
Kouba hopes more people will now come from all around eastern Wisconsin to ride.
“With every iteration of the skatepark getting better and having more options,” he clarified. “We have a lot of really good ramps for beginners. There are small ramps here. We don’t have anything super huge, which you don’t really need in my opinion. There are big parks all over the place. This is more like an entry-level park, which makes it welcoming to people who are new to skateboarding.”
The park was previously renovated in 2019 and has been in Manitowoc since 2005.
