Melton Skatepark Build Diary
Below is a running diary kept during the construction of the skatepark.
June 6th - Day 59
And so that's it boys and girls! Today the bins and benches went
in at the skatepark so you have somewhere to put your crap and sit down,
so enjoy it and use it properly!
May 31st - Day 58
Park is now open! Today the builders put the silver strips down
the sides of the ramps to define the edges, and took down the fence. The
park passed its RoSPA test and so is now safe to use! Benches and bins will
be installed early next week.
May 29th - Day 56
After the rain had cleared, the builders put in the last bit of
the sub box, put the rail in down the steps and secured the box on the pyramid.
If all goes to plan, the fences will be coming down this Thursday!
May 25th - Day 55
The park should now be a bit quieter! The soundproofing went in
today and a bit more of the park got its finishing coat of paint. But then
it started to rain and that put a stop to the painting! All that is left
to do now is to put the benches in (still to be delivered), and the bins
(also to be delivered), and finish painting the park. They then also need
to put the last bit of the sub box in, and put the rail down the steps in
place. Just some overview shots of the park today.
May 24th - Day 54
Nearly done! One end of the park got a nice coat of paint today
and the pyramid was being finished as well. We're about a week from opening!
May 23rd - Day 53
The pyramid got pretty much finished today, just some tidying up
to do. It's looking pretty good!
May 22nd - Day 52
Today the pyramid started to appear, with the main structure up
by midday. Most of yesterday was spent finishing off the joins between the
ramps.
May 18th - Day 50
We got some handrails up on the mini ramp end of the park today.
Makes it look more complete when the rails go up, the decks look so much
bigger as well!
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May 17th - Day 49
The rain continued on Wednesday and today so not too much work been
done again, although panels panels have appeared all over the mini ramp
now so that's pretty well boxed in.
May 15th - Day 47
Rain on Monday and today has put a bit of a slow on things, as welding
can't be done and that is the priority job at the moment. Getting everything
paneled up is a bit of a mission in the rain.
May 11th - Day 45
Today we had another delivery of panels, as we were a few short
with the last delivery, and so it now means that they can continue to panel
up at full speed! The little entrance ramp to the mini ramp also went on
today, although it still needs to be modified to compensate for the camber
in the tarmac pad. The weather should hopefully pick up next week so that
all work can be completed for Friday.
May 10th - Day 44
Panels were going in on the rollin and flatbank today to close up
the gaps. It started to rain just as I got there so not very many photos
today!
May 9th - Day 43
Today the builders were paneling up the park, starting off with
the jumpbox, rollover and spine and then finishing on starting the rollin
and mini ramp unit.
May 8th - Day 42
We are starting off the week by getting the jumpbox, rollover and
spine unit sorted. Rollover was pretty much done when the photos were taken
and the spine was well under way.
May 4th - Day 41
Jumpbox went in today, and despite worries that the spacing might
be a bit tight, it looks alright!
May 3rd - Day 40
Today the flatbank and rollin went in and they're looking good.
Check the photos!
May 2nd - Day 39
The deck for the rollin and flatbank went up today and the plaza
unit has been paneled up.
May 1st - Day 38
Today the grindbox went in on top of the steps and it's looking
great. Perfect for trying new tricks that you don't want to do on higher
stuff. All that's left to do on the plaza end of the park is to put the
rail in next to the steps and put the end of the sub box on which smoothes
it to the escalated quarter. Check out the photos! Completion in 2-3 weeks!
April 30th - Day 37
We got the last delivery of ramps today and you can make out in
the pictures the parts for the pyramid, rollin and rollover etc.
April 26th - Day 35
The mini ramp is just about finished now with the decks up on both
sides. It's pretty big! And the hips look like a right session.
April 25th - Day 34
Today the mini ramp really started to take shape with the transitions
being added and the bottom flat coming into place. Big thanks today to Jackie
Wakefield and Councillor Pam Posnett who both went down and picked up litter
around the site. It definitely tidied the place up and made it look much
nicer!
April 24th - Day 33
Work on the mini ramp started today, with not much work being done
yesterday and this morning due to the weather (when it rains it means that
welding can't take place). The large deck which joins mini ramp to rollin
went up and work started on the raised flat for the bottom of the mini ramp.
April 20th - Day 31
We had another delivery of parts today and already most of the plaza
unit is finished! The rest of the down ramps from the plaza mid deck have
arrived and been put in place (bar the steps) and the down across down grindbox
on the end of the unit is now in place! As is the sub box which runs along
the back of the quarters and Wembley Gap (all except a small joining part
to go on the end). It's looking immense! The rest of the parts on site are
for the other end of the park (the mini, flatbank and rollin) and all of
that should be constructed by the end of next week.
April 17th - Day 28
The back of the plaza unit is now all boxed in and the sides should
be done by the end of the day. The seams on the rest of the ramps are also
being smoothed over.
April 16th - Day 27
Today the builders began to panel up the sides of the plaza unit
to neaten the place up!
April 13th - Day 26
The majority of the handrails are now in place on the back unit
so it's now looking much nicer!
April 12th - Day 25
Today the transitions appeared on most of the back wall. The main
structure of the Wembley Gap is now complete and it is all really starting
to take shape. Not too many photos today because I didn't get that much
time down there.
April 11th - Day 24
Sorry for the delay in updating this, went down to take some photos
yesterday but never got round to uploading them, so today's photos start
off with some of yesterday's and then finish with today's (where the rest
of the back wall is taking shape). Things are certainly moving quickly down
there! The main structure of the plaza unit and back quarters are now complete,
with the copings already in place on the plaza quarter. The Wembley Gap
is also starting to appear. The rest of the back deck is up and I would
imagine that we'll be seeing some transitions on there very soon.
April 5th - Day 22
And so we are now on the final stretch, all that needs to be done
is for the ramps to be constructed! The parts for the plaza unit and the
other ramps on that back wall arrived on site at 7AM this morning. There
are two guys currently down there working, and they said that there should
be a third coming down to join them in the coming weeks to get the work
done. As you can see in the photos below, the parts for the quarters are
all stacked up and the parts for the flatbank and decks are also down there.
Also, as a treat, the images are now all in a higher resolution so you can
see more of what's going on!
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March 9th - Day 20
So that's all the groundwork complete! No more diggers and no more
dump trucks shall be seen on site. All the fencing is in and all the tarmac
is done. Check out the following photos that show what our park is looking
like now. Just so you know, the ramps will be arriving on site around about
the 19th of March and they will take between 3 and 4 weeks to install fully.
And a bit of a notice to you all: STAY OFF the tarmac pad, we want it fresh
for when the ramps arrive on site. Anyone seen on the pad may well be reported
and will certainly be no friend of Melton Skaters. Same thing also applies
to when the ramps are being installed, we don't want to see anyone skating
the park until it is totally finished.
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March 8th - Day 19
The majority of the fencing is now complete and the site is looking
pretty nice. Just so you know, the photos below were taken around midday
so they don't show the finished job. One area of fencing is being left out
so that GBH can still get in with the ramps. Check out our gates!
March 6th - Day 17
Fencing came in today and it's looking pretty smart. The fencing
that has been chosen will match the fence that surrounds the swings and
stuff in the Play Close park.
March 5th - Day 16
Today the final layer of tarmac was laid, which is a good thing!
Looks like the timetable for the park is changing as we go. It's looking
good and I took a fair few photos and had a go at 2 more panoramas. I'll
try and get a progress update in the next few days!
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March 2nd - Day 15
So we start March with a change of plan! Instead of the fencing
coming in today we laid down the first layer of tarmac, with another fine
layer to go on top at a later date. It's looking really good with all of
the border slabs now in. One corner of the park still isn't done but this
will probably be done on Monday. Quite a few photos today, including a panorama,
so have a butchers!
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February 28th - Day 13
A bit of a delay has been caused and we're now looking at fencing
coming in this Friday, then tarmac hopefully next Wednesday/Thursday. Today
they were leveling out and flattening the hardcore. As you can see the mounds
have been smoothed and all landscaping is now complete.
February 26th - Day 11
Today Town Estate came down to the park and removed some of the
trees which needed to be removed in order to shape the sides of the hills
around the edges of the park. I think we're basically waiting for the fencing
to come in on Wednesday and are just preparing the site for that.
February 21st - Day 8
Today the borders around the edge of the park are pretty well done.
They are leaving a big gap still so that the vehicles and stuff can still
get on site.
February 20th - Day 7
Things are certainly coming along quickly! Today they are starting
to put in the concrete border slabs around the edge of the park. You can
see one side is already done in the photos, and the following side is about
halfway. Bit of an update on the progress, we are currently on schedule
and things are going well. Fencing is looking set to come in next Wednesday
and that will take about a week, after which the tarmac pad will be laid.
February 16th - Day 5
Well, one working week and we've already got the ground the leveled!
That's certainly not bad going. I had a quick look down yesterday and took
some photos but the light wasn't really up to much so they didn't turn out
very nice, much the same can be said about tonight's pictures so apologies
for the picture quality! So at the moment all the ground is leveled out
and they have laid down the stones to cover up the plastic sheets to stop
the soil coming back up. Check out the photos.
February 14th - Day 3
Today the builders were beginning to level out the site, and as
you can tell from the photos, there's a lot of earth to move! The mound
of earth that covers the site of the old halfpipe is well over head height
and covers about as much room as the skatepark will do! Also, take heed
of the safety notice! If you do go down and have a look make sure your careful
around the site and please don't do anything stupid. The grey sheets you
can see in the photos are laid down in order to stop the soil from coming
up when the foundation layers are put down. The last picture shows an approximation
of the length of the park, if you imagine the park extends the length of
the grey sheeting that will give you an idea.
February 13th - Day 2
Second day of work and any evidence of the old halfpipe has completely
vanished! Well, everything except the rails that used to be there, as you
can see in the photos! In one of the photos you can see some little yellow
posts, these mark the boundary of the park and it just makes you realise
how big this is gonna be!
February 12th - Day 1
Today is the official start day for the building process of the
park. As you can see from the photos the concrete pad around the old halfpipe
site has been broken up and is going to be taken away by the big dump truck.
February 9th
Today was the first day of it looking like something was actually
happening! At 10AM I went down to check out what was happening and they
have laid out the access road which will stop all the big machinery from
sinking in the mud! Yay! I can't believe we've come this far, not too long
to go before big things start happening! Check out the first pictures below!
