By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw

WARSAW — The idea of relocating the Mantis Skate Park from Boggs Industrial Park to the west end of Richardson-Dubois Park on West Market Street has been resurrected.

The cost of the project six years ago (when the plan was first proposed), was estimated to be $465,000, and the parks department already has a design.

The original plan was shelved after the city did not receive a grant from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

Officials will again seek to secure grant funding from various sources, said Larry Plummer, superintendent of Warsaw Parks and Recreation.

The parks board and Mayor Jeff Grose support the renewed effort, he said.

The skate park would be located between the restrooms and a shopping center to the west.

While the existing park has been popular, Plummer said he thinks a new home would attract more people.

“Absolutely, kids would have better access to it without having to rely on parents to take them out clear to Boggs,” Plummer said.

The design by American Ramp Company features modern skate bowl designs that are common in skate parks.

A new location might even decrease the number of skateboarders in the downtown area, he said.

“This would give them the option to go skate at a really nice facility — a concrete bowl and ramps — a couple of blocks away from the downtown,” Plummer said.

Officials previously had lined up $150,000 from the K21 Health Foundation but that was pulled back after state grant money fell through.

Plummer acknowledged that money from the $30 million Orthopedic Industry Retention Initiative could potentially be one of several sources of money for the project, but declined to speculate further.

Land that would be part of a future skate park includes the old Liz Frazier softball field.

Plummer said they intend to establish a permanent memorial to honor Frazier in the future.

The softball field hasn’t been used in many years, but a sign honoring Frazier remains on the old backstop.

Plummer said he intends to reach out to the Frazier family if the plan moves forward.

The current skate park has always relied on staffing because of the potential for kids to damage some of the ramps and other aspects of the facility, but that would not be the case for a cement bowl design, Plummer said.

The park would include a fence and a rotating gate to ensure mopeds and motorcycles could not get inside, he said.

He said they hope to have grant money lined up over the next year so that plans can move forward.