Plans for revamped skate park in Troy begin to cement

Thanks to a recent swell in public support, Troy community organizers and city officials are working with a construction firm to give the municipality's skate park a facelift.

City Council member TJ Boswell said residents began voicing support for upgrades at the park in a survey last year. Locals began sending letters to city officials, appearing at council meetings and making donations.

Now Troy has $75,000 to put toward the project, and Boswell expects more funding to come down the pike. If the city manages to secure a state grant, it could have $180,000 to fund development at the park.

The City Council and members of Troy's nascent skate park committee have partnered with Dreamland Skateparks, an Oregon-based company that specializes in concrete skate parks, to undertake the project.

Boswell said organizers plan to divide the project into two phases. The first will involve the construction of an in-ground bowl at the south end of the park. The bowl will extend roughly 50 feet and will be up to 6 or 8 feet deep. Organizers will use the $75,000 they have already collected through donations to fund the work. If any funds are left over, Boswell said builders could begin tackling features on the park's existing 40- by 90-foot pad. Some of that work already is underway.

In the second phase of construction, community organizers will focus on adding features to the above-ground pad. That work, however, hinges on the city receiving a grant from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Boswell said city officials expected a decision from the department in late December or January. Dreamland tentatively plans to start the second phase of construction next spring.

Kolby Zugg, who helped lead community support for the project and has skated at the park for years, was thrilled to see locals rallying around the upgrades. Once the work is complete, he envisioned creating a skateboarding contest that would cycle competitors between Troy and other Dreamland parks in Polson and Whitefish.

"You could do it on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday and have a big bash at the end," Zugg said. "It would be cool to have the last contest here, the blowout here, at the end of the weekend."

Revamping the skate park represents more than just building a place to land gnarly tricks for Zugg and other community organizers.

"It's not just about skateboarding; it's just about humans," Zugg said. "It'd be amazing to bring people to this community."

The skate park upgrades are part of a larger push by city officials to recast Troy's recreational opportunities. The City Council also plans to build up the municipality's splash pad and develop Pedaler's Park near the Troy Museum.