by MOSES LEOS III
Jackson Tyler Norris was an avid skater. Every day, the Hays High student and Buda resident took his board out and shredded the sidewalks, enjoying the thrill of the moment.
Even bad weather couldn’t keep him from his hobby.
His mother, Rebecca Norris, always knew her son was enamored with the popular extreme sport.
“Jackson enjoyed skateboarding. He skated every day,” Norris said. “When a small snow storm hit the area three years ago, he still was out there.”
However, tragedy struck on June 21, 2011. On that day, Jackson was killed attempting to cross a busy intersection of U.S. 183 in Lockhart.
Since that fateful day, the Norris family wanted to find a way to honor their late son and his love of the sport he cared about so much.
Last summer, the city of Buda answered the call, asking that a new skate park be built and named after Jackson. On June 18, nearly two years to the day he was killed, the Buda City Council officially awarded Joe Brown Construction LLC the bid to begin construction on the park. On June 27, the city will hold an official groundbreaking ceremony, heralding the start of a long, drawn out process.
The idea of a skate park in Buda surfaced before Jackson’s death. In 2007, the city obtained $140,000 from the $30 million dollar Hays County Parks Bond to help with the construction. The city matched the amount dollar-for-dollar, with the initial budget set at $280,000.
Then Mayor Pro-tem Tom Krause spearheaded the initiative. Krause, whose sons skateboard, presented the idea and a promotional video to the Hays County Commissioners Court. With the court’s blessing, Buda began proceedings for the park, which will be near the intersection of Goforth Road and South RM 967, beneath the water tower.
But, budget issues hindered the project from moving forward.
The plan for the park, produced by Action Sport Design, was a 10,000-square foot area. Total cost of the project was $50,000 over the original budget. As a result, the city attempted to downsize the skate park, but had the measure was turned down; the city stuck with the 10,000-square-foot plan.
“Features for the skate park include: jersey barrier on bank with a straight and a curved extension; grind bench; 3 different handrails; bank to bank; manual pad; wedge transition; grind ledge; multiple banks and transitions,” Buda Parks and Recreation Director Andy Czimskey said in an emailed response.
Designs of the park were completed and the bid process was opened on January 2013 with an amended budget of $333,083. According to Sidonna Faust, Buda Finance Director, additional money added to the budget came from the Parks Capital Fund.
Buda received one bid, but rejected it due to high cost. The city reopened the process, and received three new bids from three new companies, which included the cost of building the park, as well as alternate items, such as a park sign, a memorial garden and subsequent irrigation, a parking lot and lighting: Fazzone Construction, $947,904.35; Stewart Builders, $750,302.89; Joe-Brown Construction, $580,769.24.
Due to the limited cost from the other two companies, the city decided to work with Joe-Brown Construction. However, the city brainstormed ways to fit the park into budget.
The result was using the Public Works Department to complete the excavation portion of the skate park. Those tasks include placing select fill to finish the grade on the pad, installing erosion controls and install a storm sewer, inlets and detention pond. The city also tasked the department with installing the park sign and building the parking lot.
The Buda City Council was confident in the Public Works Department’s ability to get the excavation done. Hiring employees who have done previous work in excavation and re-pavement jobs will further the process.
“During the recession in 2008-2009, [the Public Works Department] hired men and women who had previously worked at construction companies,” Mayor Todd Ruge said. “These are very qualified individuals, who have helped with the Sequoyah neighborhood, among other projects. I have complete confidence they can do it.”
In the past, the city also purchased grading, repaving and excavation equipment for the Public Works Department for these types of projects.
The city also cut back on the amenities within the memorial garden.
“The memorial area was redesigned to be more cost effective with only two benches,” Czimskey said. “The restroom is now going into an existing building (originally for cell phone equip) instead of a new free standing structure, and the landscape has fewer trees initially with plans to add others later.”
The city expects to spend a total of 91,328.70 through the Public Works Department. Joe Brown Construction will be tasked with building the perimeter fence, planting and irrigation, memorial garden amenities and building the skate park at a cost of $226,247.45. With $8,000 spent on bidding invoices and construction administration, as well as a construction survey done, the city’s overall price tag for the project comes out to $333,076.15.
While the memorial garden will not have the “bells and whistles” in the original design, the goal for the city was to get the park back on track.
“After many years in the planning process, [the city] felt we needed to get the skate park open,” Ruge said. “We needed to get it going.”
However, he was adamant about the city’s option to go back and build many of the amended amenities at a later date.
The Norris family also understands the budget constraints of the city. While the park will not initially have everything they hoped, they are happy the facility is finally seeing the light of day.
“We are grateful the city has kept us in the loop, and listened to our concerns,” Rebecca said. “We are excited and honored that the city decided to name the skate park after Jackson. We are so thrilled.”
Mostly, the family understands just how much this would have meant to Jackson.
“We would have looked forward to this moment,” Rebecca said. “We will be there everyday, taking pictures, and seeing the changes it will go through in the future.”
