Skate park will be open Monday

BAYOU VISTA — What’s a skateboarder to do?
The Bayou Vista skate park has been closed for six months. When it opens, it will be bigger and better, but that won’t be for weeks. School is about to start.
Dude. Help is on the way.
On Monday, for one day only, the skate park will open to give boarders a chance to check out the new features. The park will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Beginning at 2 p.m. Monday at the pavilion near the skate park, Steve Carrier of Mega Force Ministries will perform feats of strength: busting concrete blocks, breaking baseball bats across his legs, tearing license plates with his bare hands and blowing up hot water bottles to the point of bursting.
Carrier will also, according to Mega Force publicity, “share inspiring truths that will encourage and challenge young people.” He will also appear at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Bayou Vista Baptist Church, 411 Field Road. Admission will be free.
St. Mary Parish Recreation District 3 invested $1.6 million in the Bayou Vista park to make the improvements that include the skate park.
Technically, the park won’t be finished and open for another three weeks.
But in St. Mary Parish, the new school year begins Aug. 6.
“We wanted to give the kids one more chance to skate before school starts,” said Stan Robison, chairman of the recreation district board.
The skate park, which had features that locals named “the volcano” and “the taco,” is roughly doubled in size with the new addition. A separate, fenced-off section will be for beginning skaters only.
An 18-hole miniature golf course with a Noah’s Ark theme is under construction at the park.
So is an 18-foot “splash pad,” where youngsters can cool off by getting splashed with water.
Robison said all the work is scheduled to be complete by Labor Day.

This story was written by Bill Decker of The Daily Review staff. Reach him at bdecker@daily-review.com.