By Todd Krysiak
Sauk Prairie Eagle
Family members and friends of Alex Gullickson hope to resurrect a skatepark proposal that never came to fruition and build the facility in his memory.
By all accounts, Alex was an avid skateboarder before he was killed in a traffic accident on his way to class at Madison Area Technical College on Jan. 13.
Within hours of his death, friends had set up memorials on Facebook, a social networking website, with pictures of Alex skateboarding and having a good time.
A group of residents led by his mother, retired Sauk Prairie elementary school teacher Vicki Gullickson, have picked up where a high school group left off in planning for a skatepark.
"He loved skating and devoted a lot of his time in high school to that," Vicki said. "His girlfriend Megan (Martens) really liked the idea and why not? I mean, how much better a memorial can it be?"
Martens, who graduated from Sauk Prairie High School with Alex in 2008, has become one of the park’s biggest proponents.
She was one of the volunteers who went door-to-door surveying residents in the neighborhood of Jaycee Park in Sauk City, asking them whether they would like to see a skatepark built nearby. She said of the nine residences that share a property line with the park, six property owners said they liked the idea, one said "No" and two others could not be contacted.
The original plan developed by a group of students at Sauk Prairie High School between 2002 and 2004 with the help of guidance counselor Robyn Baron found Jaycee Park to be the ideal location, Vicki said.
"So much of the work and research for this already is done," she said. "Our goal is to get the village to commit and say we can have a spot."
Building upon the previous research, which recommended a skatepark be built in Jaycee Park where the park would be accessible to youth and bathrooms already are on site, Vicki hopes to get the village of Sauk City to sign on.
"There are a lot of kids interested in this," Vicki said. "Not just skateboarders, there’s also a group of girls who are interested in inline skating."
Vicki said the group hopes to fund the construction of the park entirely through grants and private donations, but they need a place to build.
She and several other adult supporters, as well as about 15 skaters, made a proposal to the Sauk City Plan Commission on Oct. 27 to use space near the tennis courts at Jaycee Park.
Standing outside the Sauk City Municipal Building due to a power outage, Sarah Boehmer told village planners that skaters in Waunakee were able to raise $100,000 to build a park there.
Boehmer said her son skateboards and she regularly takes him to neighboring communities that have skateparks.
Plan Commission member Chuck Bongard said Baraboo installed a skatepark and had some problems with kids breaking the rules and causing problems. He asked Vicki how they would address the possibility for similar problems.
Vicki said many communities in the area have built skateparks and did not experience the problems that came up in Baraboo, though she said she believed many of the issues that came up in Baraboo had been resolved.
She also pointed out that the Sauk Prairie Recreation Department would be involved in the project and active parents and skaters would have to be engaged.
Bongard said he believe Jaycee Park would be a good location.
After the meeting, Vicki said she believed the commission members were open to the proposal.
"We thought they were pretty open," she said. "We’re optimistic about it."
Her husband, Dale, also has been involved with the project and said he was impressed by the number of kids who attended the meeting to show support.
The total cost of the project, as well as the type of materials and responsibility for maintenance have not yet been established, Vicki said.
