The reconstruction of the Louisville Extreme Park is under-budget but behind schedule, and on Wednesday the park will shut down for two weeks for what officials call “large scale concrete work.”
Renovation work has been taking place at the skate and BMX park since May due to work on the downtown crossing of the Ohio River Bridges Project, according to a press release.
Nearly a third of the park was demolished to make room for the bridge ramps.
With nearly $3 million in state funding being made available, city officials are working to redevelop the portion of the park that went missing with the construction of the bridges, said Jason Canuel, assistant director of park resources with Metro Government.
Canuel said the reconstruction of the park was expected to be completed by the end of 2014, but wet weather pushed that back substantially.
“Mother nature has not been very kind to us,” he said.
He said the park needs to be closed down so existing concrete can be “tied in” to newer portions of the park.
The funding from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet does not permit officials to “enhance” the park, Canuel said.
“The funding that we’ve got is not for enhancement, it is just to relocate and to move it,” he said.
In terms of square footage of skateable concrete, the new sections will boast about the same as the former park, Canuel said.
Here is a rendering of what the redeveloped park will look like:
Here is what the park looks like now.
Canuel said some elements to the park—the structures that are fit for skating or biking on or around—are being updated because new construction techniques have been developed since the park was originally built more than a decade ago.
“It’s going to be like comparing the park to an old penny to a new penny,” he said. “They’re still worth one penny but the new one looks much better.”
Though the project is under-budget, Canuel wouldn’t say by how much.
“Because who knows what is going to happen from now until the time it is done,” he said.
The entire project is expected to be completed by May, he said.
