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Specialty company picked for skate park

TAMPA PALMS A skate bowl is expected to take shape in a park near Freedom High.

By Robbyn Mitchell Times Correspondent
Published November 2, 2007

City officials heard their demands and met at least one of them: A firm that specializes in skate parks will be involved.

Team Pain, a skate park builder based in Winter Springs, will partner with local builder Cutler & Associates to create the skate bowl at the park near Freedom High School.

Tampa will be the 14th Florida city to deal with the specialty company of skateboarders-turned-businessmen and construction workers.

"We don't just build them. We also skate them," said Andrew Nedimyer, 23, who develops price projections for Team Pain.

Nedimyer has been a skater for 12 years and said that the company stands behind its work, which is featured all over the world.

"We are building a concrete park in Belgium now," he said.

Skaters were thrilled that city officials asked their opinion, said Maggie Wilson, a consultant for the Tampa Palms Community Development District.

"The skate crew is tight-knit," she said. "We do better when we have someone who deals with things professionally come in."

A crew of skateboarders will hand-shape the park, taking up to three months for a 10,000-square-foot site.

This month, the city is expected to vote on a design contract. Construction should begin by early 2008.

The New Tampa Community Park main building will be finished in late December and may be open to the public by February, said Brad Suder, the project's manager.

A 19,500-square-foot building housing a 12,500-square-foot gymnastics center is the first phase of the construction.

Before the end of November, Suder said the city will hopefully nail down the design contract and may break ground on the second phase.

"We had a lot of parents who were adamant about getting a skate park out there for years," Suder said. "We're just trying to move the process forward."

Robbyn Mitchell can be reached at 813 269-5313 or rmitchell@sptimes.com.

[Last modified November 1, 2007, 07:02:46]