What is the town of Tonopah building at Harvey Park?

Harvey Park has been a part of the Tonopah community since the 1980s and though it offers residents and visitors covered picnic tables, benches, a sprawling grassy area, baseball field, disc golf and a fun playground for the kiddos, some of its once-usable amenities were falling into disrepair. This problem will soon be a thing of the past, however, with an improvement project currently underway to completely redo the park’s sporting area.

Meeting with the Times-Bonanza at Harvey Park on Saturday, Oct. 11, town of Tonopah Administrative Supervisor Becky Braska explained that the improvement project comes as a direct result of locals asking for some upgrades, particularly the youth.

“There was a group of kids in town who really wanted to be able to use the skate park but it was just dangerous. So, they came to us with some ideas of what they’d like to see, they met with our town manager, Joe Westerlund, and we took it from there,” Braska detailed.

Working with BEC Environmental, the town sought out grant opportunities to help fund an overhaul, not just the skate park but the sports courts as well. “And BEC Environmental was awesome, they are so great to work with,” Braska noted, remarking that the company made the sometime onerous grant application process seamless.

With letters of support from CYCA, Northern Nye County Cooperative Extension Educator Misha Allen and a variety of individuals – including a professional skateboarder who had stopped in town only to be disappointed that the skate park was not usable - the town eventually secured a U.S. Dept. of Interior, Land and Water Conservation Fund grant in the amount of $288,000. The town is matching another $288,000 for the rehab, bringing the total value of upgrades to $576,000. Once completed, the park will have a new skate park, basketball courts and two courts for a sport that has been continuously growing in popularity, pickleball.

After the town went out to bid, a company out of Los Angeles called Spohn Ranch was selected for the biggest part of the project, the skatepark work.

“They do skate parks all over the country and everything we looked at, the jobs they have done, they have just received accolades for them and they have done such great work,” Braska enthused.

Town maintenance staff performed a large portion of the demolition work, to reduce costs, while Spohn Ranch prefabricated the ramps and rails for the skate park at their facility in LA before shipping their different pieces to Tonopah to be assembled.

“Spohn Ranch is using Clair Concrete out of Bishop to do the on-site work,” Braska noted. “We’ve used Clair Concrete for a lot of stuff here in Tonopah. They did our Union Plaza parking lot, they did the concrete work in our library parking lot and they recently donated materials and labor for the new Heritage Park. They are really nice people, it’s a family business and they work hard.

“We’re really excited about this and it’s all because a group of kids came and talked to Joe!” Braska concluded. “It’s a great thing for the community and a positive thing for kids to do, to keep them active and out of trouble and it looks like we should be done in just a few weeks.”

Harvey Park is located at 1215 Globemallow Lane.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com