The Town of Manning and the County of Northern Lights have each come forward with $50,000 in support of a bike and skate park in Manning.
That puts a group of students in grades five, eight, and nine halfway to their goal of $200,000.
Grade nine student at Paul Rowe High School Erik Johnson believes the concrete park will be well used by everyone from skateboarders and bikers to scooters and rollerbladers.
“And we were even thinking of renaming it to an “all-wheel park”, and there is lots of those because it invites all these other things. I think that would definitely be big to get everyone we could to use this park.”
The student committee has yet to choose a company or design for the park, but is moving forward with hopeful completion by August.
Paul Rowe Principal Matthew Taylor explains the group brainstormed the idea in an enrichment class, and took the initiative with parent and teacher help.
“It was quite a learning experience for them, and they certainly represented their community very well and it was really great to see our youth take that leadership to do something that benefits the entire community.”
The committee of students did spoke with skate park design companies and fellow classmates in the community to gauge their interest, and presented their findings to the Town and County, who they’d like to thank for their support.