A concept illustration of the Jackson Tyler Norris Memorial Skatepark in Buda shows ramps, rails and a memorial garden in the top left corner. The park is being built on two-thirds of an acre owned by the city on South Loop 4. (Concept by Action Sport Design)
by WES FERGUSON
The Buda City Council has tentatively approved a design concept for the Jackson Tyler Norris Memorial Skatepark that is replete with a half pipe, grind ledges and benches and xeriscaped garden.
Two hangups emerged during Tuesday’s council meeting, though: the project price tag is $50,000 more than the amount budgeted, and it doesn’t include funding for a memorial garden portion that will honor the park’s namesake, a Buda teen who was struck and killed by a vehicle last year.
Jackson Norris’s family and friends have committed to raising about $30,000 for the memorial garden, designed to sit adjacent to the 10,000-square-foot skatepark. But not integrating the memorial into the center of the park — and requiring the survivors to pay for it — didn’t set well with Buda City Councilwoman Sandra Tenorio.
“I thought we were going to design this with (the memorial) in mind,” said Tenorio, speaking before a packed council chamber of kids and parents. “We wanted to make sure the family had input, and what we didn’t want to do is say, ‘We’ll build a park and whatever you want, you’ll pay for.’”
Local skateboarders and other community members had rejected a smaller park concept that fit within the $280,000 budget and included money for the memorial but was only 7,000 square feet and had fewer features.
A representative from California-based Action Sport Design, the firm that gathered local input and designed the park concepts, discouraged Tenorio’s idea of placing the memorial garden in the center of activity.
“It would just get trampled. It doesn’t make sense,” said Kanten Russell, the company’s principal. “You can still appreciate it, but we wanted it removed to a quiet, calmer area … a little more subtle and subdued away from the core of the skatepark.”
City staff said the $50,000 difference between the 7,000-square-foot park and the 10,000-square-foot park could be paid from Buda’s parks capital fund, which receives land and development fees from developers.
City Manager Kenneth Williams said there were several options to pay for the memorial garden as well, rather than Jackson Norris’s family footing the bill.
“We’ll find a way. It’s going to be done,” Tenorio said.
The skatepark design has also incorporated seven trees to represent the seven recipients of Jackson’s donated organs. It is scheduled for completion by January or February.
Jackson Tyler Norris Memorial Skatepark
480 S. Loop 4
