Indoor skate park idea moves forward but with $2M TIF request tied to it
By Fran Spielman City Hall Reporter June 6, 2011 4:54PM
Updated: June 6, 2011 6:30PM
A South Side land giveaway that would pave the way for Chicago’s first-ever indoor, all-night skateboard park sailed through a City Council committee Monday, but it will be built only if Mayor Rahm Emanuel authorizes $2 million in tax-increment-financing.
Former Mayor Richard M. Daley proposed the innovative idea while presiding over his last City Council meeting.
It calls for selling four city-owned parcels at 1600-to-1752 S. Clark Street that once housed a Trailways bus barn to the Chicago Park District for a token price of $1.
The open garage that the city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation has been using for the last 10 years as a headquarters for its Loop snow operations would be transformed into Chicago’s first indoor skate park.
On Monday, the City Council’s Committee on Housing and Real Estate approved the land deal, but not before project manager Michael Lang disclosed that the Park District was requesting a $2 million subsidy from the local TIF district at a time when Emanuel has promised to rein in TIF spending.
The $2 million plan calls for rehabilitating the existing building and turning the 27,000-square-foot of space into an indoor skateboard complex that includes a lobby, locker rooms, a skating surface and viewing area with spectator seating.
The plan also calls for improvements to the building’s exterior, landscaping and a parking lot. The skating area will include traditional skateboard elements, including ramps, ledges and paths with “unique obstacles,” officials said.
“This is a cool project. I just told Danny [Solis, whose 25th Ward includes the project] that I want him to buy me a new pair of roller skates so I can practice,” said Committee Chairman Ray Suarez (31st).
Solis promised community meetings before the TIF subsidy is approved. But, he called the skate park a wonderful addition to “almost adjacent” — and soon to be expanding — Ping Tom Park.
“This skate park will just add to what will hopefully be one of the premier parks in Chicago. I look forward to having this park be one of the jewels of the city,” Solis said.
Still, Solis acknowledged that “there is some concern from residents — not just in my ward, but other wards” about the indoor skate park that will allow skateboarders to blow off steam day or night.
“This is simply an acquisition. There will be a number of community meetings to allow input and refine how we put this park together,” he said.
On the day he proposed the park, Daley said the idea came from “a number of people working in various restaurants — young people who want to do some physical activity.”
“It’s gonna be an indoor park and it’s gonna be fabulous for skateboarders. It’s gonna be open 24-hours-a-day,” he said then.
“A lot of young people work at night. They get off at one or two o’clock in the morning. Of course, they want to skate around the city. So, this will be a great indoor facility. It’ll be the only one of its kind in the country. It’ll be a public park. It’s fabulous.”
The Park District currently owns and operates four outdoor skateboard parks, but no indoor park. The closest indoor park is located in Tinley Park.
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