The school board owns Crowell Park, where the skatepark is planned to go, and it has signed a lease with BASIC. Crowell Park is located on the corner of Western Avenue and Union Street.
Thursday July 12, 2012

BRATTLEBORO -- Supporters and opponents of the proposed Crowell Lot skatepark will soon have more detailed plans to debate.

On Wednesday, the town opened five bids from national firms that want to design the 10,000-square-foot skatepark that is planned for the western edge of the Crowell Lot.

The bids that were opened came in between $8,900 and $38,575 and now a committee is going to look over each one and then make a recommendation to the Selectboard during one of the board's August meetings.

There was only one representative from the five companies -- Mike McIntyre, from ASD/Stantec -- at Wednesday's bid opening.

Action Sport Design has an office in Boston and has designed skateparks around the country, including parks in Pittsfield, Mass., and Hingham, Mass.

Brattleboro Area Skatepark is Coming (BASIC) member Adam Hubbard said once the design firm is chosen, the group should have a final plan by the end of the fall.

Hubbard said the committee is not necessarily going to choose the lowest bid.

He said the committee has a list of nine criteria it is using to choose the winning bid, including experience with similar projects, availability to begin work, knowledge of the project area and the quality of submission.

The committee is going to meet on July 19 to look at the design bids.

Hubbard stressed that the community is going to be asked to weigh in on the final design and he said one of the

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most important requirements will be a proven ability and willingness to work with the public and with town officials as the design is developed.

He said there will likely be a number of meetings to gather input before a final design for the park is chosen.

"We are looking for firms that have been through a public process like this," Hubbard said. "Local availability and an ability to fund raise is important."

The Brattleboro Selectboard and the Development Review Board have both approved the project, but BASIC needs to raise all of the money for the design and construction of the proposed skatepark.

BASIC has so far raised $92,000, according to its website, and Hubbard said the group has the money to move ahead with the final design, once a firm has been chosen. The total cost for the park is estimated at $300,000.

Having a final design in hand to show potential contributors will mark an important step in BASIC's bid to build a skatepark in Brattleboro, Hubbard said.

Howard Weiss-Tisman can be reached at hwtisman@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext. 279