Orchard Skate Park, which is 40-feet long and 66-feet wide, opened this week near the Orchard Recreation Center at 4808 W. Ninth Street.

The skate park stemmed from a team effort that featured several organizations, companies and groups. Major contributors were Cornejo & Sons Inc, Voegeli Concrete Construction, Wichita Area Builders Association, Cox Communications, Fraternal Order of Police #5, Quiktrip, the Orchard Park Neighborhood Association and an Orchard Park skateboard group that led a fundraising effort.

"It’s an exciting project," Council member Sharon Fearey said. "People in the neighborhood and others saw a need. They got together and came up with a solution and got the project done."

The skate park cost about $13,500, which includes a $4,000 contribution from a City Park fund.

A youth skateboard group teamed with Wichita Police Department Officers to spearhead a fund-raising effort. That effort generated about $2,000 from a youth group that washed cars and sold wristbands and T-shirts.

The neighborhood project started in December 2004 when a youth skate group and WPD officers begin meeting to address teenage vandalism, loitering and other criminal activity in the Orchard Park area, bordered by I-235, West Street, Central and Zoo Boulevard.

"At the first meeting, only two youth and three parents showed up," said Officer Paul Zamorano. "But beat officers didn't let this dissuade them. At the second meeting, more than 50 youth and their parents were in attendance."

Skate park backers secured support from the Orchard Park Neighborhood Association and District Advisory Board VI before seeking financial assistance from local businesses. About 125 fund-raising packets were sent to local businesses.

Beat officers have helped reduce crime in the Orchard Park neighborhood by 77% by increasing patrol in the area, building rapport with the area youth, implementation of Neighborhood Park and School Watch and strengthening partnerships with city staff at Orchard Park Recreation and the Orchard Park Neighborhood Association.

The new skate park will be a good place for people who want to learn skateboarding. Wichita's first official skate park, located under the Kellogg Freeway overpass between St. Francis and Emporia, is a regional attraction designed to draw advanced and professional skateboarders. It features deep "bowls" and skate park landscaping.

Other contributors to the Orchard Park Skate Park, which is designed for beginning skateboarders, included Warren Theaters, The Wichita Eagle, former Park Board member Bob Aldrich, Orchard Park Neighborhood Association president Donna Aldrich, attorney Dan Monnat, Riverside Citizens Association, Greenway Alliance, Sunflower Neighborhood & Business Association, Riverside Citizens Association, Grace Wu Kung-Fu School, Signature Exploratory Theatre and Arts, Signs Designs and The Pusher skateboard retailer.

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