Park for BMX bikes, skateboards planned in Whitestown

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By Renee Larr

After Zionsville Community High School student Anthony Cannon learned he was not allowed to ride his BMX bike in the skate park at Zionsville’s Mulberry Fields, he approached the Town of Whitestown about the possibility of building a park there.

“The bike scene is growing in the area and we don’t really have a place to ride in the Zionsville/Whitestown area,” Cannon said.

Whitestown officials listened and responded, and now the town is in the beginning stages of planning, designing and constructing a park that will allow BMX bikes, skateboards and roller blades.

“I let Anthony know that we could work with him and other youth to put a skate park in Whitestown that is open to skaters and BMX-ers alike,” said Nathan Messer, Whitestown director of parks and recreation.

Whitestown is working to raise funding to pay for the park’s initial design. Once the plans have been created, they will be presented to area businesses to request donations and will be used to apply for grants. The goal is raise anywhere between $90,000 to $300,000 to build the park, which could be constructed in Panther Park or at another location.

Zionsville Parks and Recreation Director Matt Dickey said Zionsville doesn’t allow for BMX bikes in their parks because of safety and liability issues.

“There were public input meetings about the design of the park including features of the skate park and splash pad,” Dickey said. “During the skate park discussion the issue came up about safety and mixed use. The citizens of Zionsville did not want to have mixed use. So, the design target was set to not allow BMX bikes in.”

FUNDING THE PARK

Cannon has set up a Go Fund Me page to help fund the future park. For more information visit gofundme.com/t2syt4.


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