FOX 14 TV Joplin and Pittsburg News Weather Sports |Fort Scott breaks ground on new skate park

A Fort Scott, Kansas recreation committee is appealing to a younger generation through the construction of a new skate park.

The Fort Scott Skate Park Committee had been working on the project for more than three years.  Thanks to a $25,000 donation from a Fort Scott employer they now have the necessary funding to make the project possible.

Crews officially broke ground today on what will soon be a 3,000 square foot skateboarder's paradise.

The project costs about $100,000.  While $15,000 of that came from the city's recreation and parks fund, the rest came from grants and donations.

City Manager Dave Martin says the skate park will provide necessary space to youth who don't have a safe place now to enjoy their hobby.

"I told the citizens that the commission had approved $15,000," Martin says.  "I had a mother call me in tears and she just said 'this is the first time the city is going - the city and county are going to help my son'.  This is - we're actually helping a group of kids that probably have been out on their own."

The skate park is expected to open April 1.