Skatepark grand opening slated for June 26

Last April a group of dedicated Phillips County organizations and individuals frantically took the necessary steps to ensure a skatepark would be built in Malta. On Sunday, June 26, just three months later, the skatepark at Hill Crest will be officially dedicated with a special guest on hand for the ribbon cutting.

"That Saturday, Jeff Ament is going to be in Big Sandy (Montana) for their Annual Skate Jam," said Ashley Stuart, Executive Director of PhillCo Economic Growth Council. "So he is going to come to Malta the next day for our skatepark's ribbon cutting. He said he wants to skate the new park and is excited to see it."

Ament is one of the founding members of the Rock group Pearl Jam and in April he agreed to fund the skatepark in Malta with a $50,000 donation. After plans fell through for a different skatepark in eastern Montana, Ament – who grew up in Big Sandy, Mont. – doubled his donation to $100,000 for the Malta skatepark. Pearl Jam has sold over 30 million albums worldwide over the last 30 years. Ament, who is an ardent skateboarder, has donated monies for at least 10 skateparks in the United States, at least four of them in Montana including a world-class facility in Browning built in 2014 that cost nearly $250,000 to build. Part of the money for the parks comes from $2 of every Pearl Jam concert ticket for community projects decided upon by the band.

The Skatepark Ribbon Cutting will start at noon at Hill Crest. On the day, Malta Trails, Inc., will officially hand the skatepark over to the City of Malta. There will be music played, DalRena's will have concessions for sale, there will be free snow cones provided by Lynette Ereaux and family and there will be a free helmet give away for children.

"We received enough donations that we were able to purchase 100 helmets that we will give away on the day to kids," Stuart said. "Those donations were made specific for helmet give-aways so we are really excited about that and we would like everyone to come out to the opening to say a huge thank you to Jeff for his support of our community and for his generous donation and to Bill Coulon and the Evergreen Skateparks' crew for their great work and to the City of Malta for everything they have done during this process."

Stuart said a soft-opening of the park was considered by the skatepark Committee -- comprised of Stuart, Laura Pankratz, Shyla Jones, Travis Rhodes and Shane Carnahan -- but scrapped that so that the proper park rules signage could be posted and sod still could laid near the bowl of the skatepark to protect the park's concrete bowl.

"The issue was erosion near the bowl," Stuart said. "By the sod being laid, it will protect the cement and keep it stable. Billy also said that if mud or rocks get into the bowl, it causes lots of problems."

Weather permitting, and after the PCN had gone to press for the week, Tuesday, June 14, a group of volunteers were scheduled to lay the sod at the skatepark. Once the sod is placed, it takes another couple of days before it can be walked upon, another reason for no soft-opening of the Malta Skatepark.

"We really don't want anyone in there until all the work is complete," Stuart said. "We understand everyone is really excited for the skatepark, and though it looks complete, it is really not. It is for everyone's safety that we are waiting until the 26th to open the park."

The sod for the park – 12,000 square feet -- is being purchased through the Radio-Thon fundraiser held in May, which netted over $6,000 in contributions.

Future embellishments to the park will include two benches – one donated by the Bishop family, the other by the Cilz family – that will sit near the mouth of the bowl. There will be a covered picnic area on a concrete slab with two, all-weather Memorial picnic tables – one table donated by the Hammond family and the other by the Malta Class of 1998.

"We are hoping that will all be complete by the time of the grand opening as well," Stuart said. Stuart added that there have been many donations made to the project and the Malta Skatepark Committee is working to compile a list of people, organizations and businesses to thank at a later time.

"We've had contractors and local companies donate materials and their time," Stuart added. "There's so many people to thank and we are getting a list put together. Everything from the dirt-work to porta potties have been donated and we are very thankful and will publicly thank everyone very soon, we just don't want to leave anyone out, but we would like to say a tremendous thank you to this community for all their support to make this project a reality and a huge thank you to Jeff."