Roll out the boards and set up the half pipe.
Ozone Park will soon be home to a large skate park, the city’s Department of Parks & Recreation confirmed.
Requests for proposals (RFP) to developers were released for the 10,350-square-foot skate park, which is planned to be completed by the end of 2013. It will be part of planned renovations to London Planetree Playground, officials said. The park will be bordered by Atlantic and 95th Avenues, and 88th and 89th Streets.
The skate park will include sets of two-, three- and five-step stairs, grind rails, hubba ledges, a stamped brick quarter pipe and a series of banks and slopes, according to the Parks Department. When completed, this will be the sixth city-run skate park in Queens. Others nearby are in the Rockaways and Forest Park.
Borough President Helen Marshall’s office is allocating $1 million, a source said, with Councilmember Eric Ulrich contributing more than $700,000 to the project. Along with the huge skate park, Planetree will get two basketball courts, adult fitness equipment, a walking path, trees, shrubs and sitting areas, according to the Parks Department.
Skaters in Woodhaven normally frequent the nearby Pathmark parking lot on Atlantic Avenue, said Ed Wendell, president of the Woodhaven Resident’s Block Association.
There can be a large number of skaters during the school year, Wendell said, after school has let out for the day. “During the school year, you’ll see kids hanging out there in the parking lot of Pathmark,” he said.
Creating a skate park came from a constituent’s complaint to Ulrich about the boarding in the Pathmark parking lot, the councilmember said. He took the idea to Marshall and asked for her support to update the park and make it more environmentally friendly. Marshall agreed to allocate the $1 million, he said, and his office paid the remainder.
Ulrich said the park, which he grew up playing in, would be a boon to the area and benefit residents.
“I think it’s going to be a wonderful amenity for the community,” he said. “And I’m grateful for the borough president’s support for sponsoring me on the project.”
