By Staff
NILES -- Talented semi-professional skateboarders from Michigan, Indiana and Canada will perform Saturday following the ribbon cutting at the Niles Skate Park.
The park, located in Riverfront Park in Niles, has been open for about a month and has proven wildly popular, attracting skateboarders and rollerbladers not only from Niles but from a number of cities in southwestern Michigan and norther Indiana.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday will officially open the park. It begins at 11 a.m.
Niles Mayor Michael McCauslin will be in attendance to speak briefly with the participants and to cut the ribbon.
City Administrator Terry Eull and other city officials will be on hand for the event.
Semi professional skate boarders who will give a demonstration at the new skate park include Brian Murphy of Royal Oak; Derek McClain and Josh Jones of Muskegon; Grant Schaap of Schereville, Ind., Don Bambrick of Detroit; Aaron Doyle of Samia, Ontario, Canada and Mark Vanderboegh of St. Joseph.
The new Niles Skate Park was funded with the use of monies donated from the sale of property in the Niles Industrial Park to the Illinois based Indeck Energy Services Inc.
Construction of the new 15,900 square foot concrete skate park was completed on April 1 and opened to the public on April 2.
The construction project got under way in late July 2002 and was completed at a cost of approximately $360,000.
The skate park is one of the largest, if not the largest skate park of its kind within a 75 mile radius of Niles and is drawing users from throughout the region.
The park has no admission charge and will be open spring, summer and fall, seven days per week, weather permitting.
For more information, contact Juan Ganum, Community Development Director at the City of Niles at 683-4700.