Palouse Skatepark, Inc.
a 501 (c) 3 Charitable Giving Organization, overseeing the development of the
privately-funded Palouse Skatepark & Tony Kettel Skate Gardens in Palouse, WA
About the Garden
Garden Transformation Team
The Tony Kettel Skate Gardens are named in honor of Mrs. Tony Kettel, an avid gardening ethusiast who bestowed the land gift to Palouse Skatepark, Inc. The project is located on the plateau to the North of the Palouse Skatepark on Whitman Street, one block behind Main Street.
The gardens are a greenspace for growing our Palouse community: an outdoor classroom, a shared wild food source, a social hub, a living educational tool, a creative venue, a beautiful garden space, and a nature sanctuary in the heart of our community. It is a gift from Palouse Skatepark, Inc. to visitors of all ages.
We are a volunteer sub-committee of Palouse Skatepark, Inc. working to bring the Tony Kettel Skate Gardens to life. This team of garden enthusiasts and master level gardeners is ambitious, skilled, and willing to build a new kind of community garden.
Questions pondered during beginning development meetings included these: How can this space be more than just beautiful? How can it become a meaningful and useful place to our community and local organizations? As a small town, what resources can we pull from? What connections, through personal relationships and professional networks, can we use to create a dynamic community-driven public space?
In September of 2015, the team rallied with many volunteer groups to begin clearing the project site of debris and weeds. In September, Co-Chairs Marie Dymkoski and Nicole Flansburg began lining up an array of Garden Transformation Partners, and the process of applying for grant funding ensued with the help of many team members.
By early 2016, $2,000 was awarded to our team from Northwest Farm Credit Services, and $500 from Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. to go toward the costs of fencing off the South slope of the project site. In July of 2016, the team agreed upon the first set stage of development and the "Parisian Avenue" concept was born. In August, the first official fundraiser for the transformation was hosted, and by January of 2017 the team began scheming for this first construction phase!