Richard Umlauf is taking up the cause of getting a new skateboard park built in Batavia.
Until a few years ago, there was one behind Falleti Ice Arena off of Evans, but the location meant it got little use and it became a magnet for low-level drug use, according to police.
Umlauf is aware of those issues so he connected with Tony Hawk Foundation, which provides grants, in conjunction with the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, to help build community skate parks.
Last Saturday, Umlauf organized the first meeting for skatepark supporters Trevor Staples, who is with the Tony Hawk Foundation, flew in from Michigan to attend the meeting and explain how the grant program works.
It will be up to a group of committed skateboard park supporters to raise as much as $250,000 for a skate park. The foundations will match up to $250,000, making a $500,000 park possible.
The organizers will also need to secure the support of the city as well as space for the park from the city, perhaps in an existing city park.
