Buda skate park project on track for spring

Buda skaters will soon have a place to showcase their skills, when the city's skate park opens later this spring.

The Jackson T. Norris Memorial Skate Park will be named in honor of a Buda teenager who was killed in a traffic accident in June.

Parks Director Jack Jones said that when completed, the 10,000-square-foot park will feature a variety of ramps, stems and bowls. The city has held several meetings with the public to get input on what features to include.

"It's been talked about for the past several years. A group of kids approached the City Council in 2010," he said. "The design ultimately will have come from meetings with the kids."

Following the meetings, the city applied for and received $140,000 from Hays County, as part of the 2007 Parks Bond. With the city's matching funds, the park's total cost will be $280,000.

Jones said the teens who approached the City Council were looking for a park to practice closer to home so they wouldn't have to drive to San Marcos or Austin.

The park will be on a 1-acre plot of city-owned land at the intersection of FM 967 and Loop 4.