Free Fall Energy Center is coming soon to Quakertown.
The eagerly anticipated newest indoor-outdoor recreation and youth outreach facility to serve the Quakertown community aims to provide an active recreation space for young people to enjoy.
With an estimated completion of September for Phase I, the Free Fall Energy Center, construction of the new skate park, endorsed by the Tony Hawk Foundation, will follow.
Once Free Fall is completed, construction of Quakertown Action Park can begin, Quakertown Borough officials said.
“Quakertown Action Park is being constructed [as] a place for at-risk youth, locally and regionally, to have a place to belong and create relationships with peers and caring adults,” said Courtney Boehm, Quakertown Borough assistant parks and recreation coordinator.
Boehm said while construction costs are expected to be higher than originally budgeted for the project, additional grants have been sought through the Department of Natural Resources, Department of Community and Economic Development and the Tony Hawk Foundation.
“We are very grateful to have received grant funding,” Boehm said.
She noted once open, volunteers would staff the Free Fall Energy Center, providing positive role-models for young participants.
What’s more, staff will take a hands-on approach to sports, making up “The Goodlums,” an Action Sports Team, said Dave Kratz, pastor of Team Leadership and outreach at East Swamp Church in Milford Township.
The Goodlums youth participants have been “key influences to the transformation of the atmosphere of the park…[and] we would like to further invest in their lives and develop their skills through leadership and management opportunities by providing them with job opportunities,” Kratz said.
He noted Free Fall Action Sports launched 11 years ago as a single annual event.
It’s come a long way.
Now a nonprofit organization, Free Fall Action Sports offers year-round opportunities for the local and regional community, he said.
Boehm said the Tony Hawk Foundation has been instrumental in supporting the project and creating more awareness for it, which in turn has spurred funding donations.
Grant funding through the Tony Hawk Foundation will be used toward construction of the concrete skate park, she said.
“Additionally, the foundation has provided us feedback on different designs of the Quakertown Action Skate Park,” Boehm said.
