Board and Blade Skate Park grand opening Saturday at Lake Tye

The city of Monroe will celebrate the culmination of several months of work with the unveiling of the newly renovated Board and Blade Skate Park at Lake Tye on Saturday, including a ribbon-cutting ceremony and brief statement from Mayor Geoffrey Thomas.

The grand opening takes place at 10 a.m. Aug. 13, and is being held in conjunction with the INT League's Skate the Lake competition, which brings water-skiers, wakeboarders and surfers to Monroe for a day of competitive water sports.

Completely reconstructed by architectural design firm Grindline Skateparks Inc., with input from skate park development volunteers Aris Williams and Todd Yingling, the skate park has been under construction since April.

"I'm excited the newly renovated skate park is in its final stages of completion. This is a valuable asset to the community that will be used for all generations,GÇ¥ Thomas said in a news release.

The $270,000 project was funded through a $120,000 matching-fund grant from the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office and supplemented with money from the Monroe Parks Department Capital Improvement Fund.

"Thank you to Grindline Skateparks for the construction of the skate park, and thank you to the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program for their grant of $120,000,GÇ¥ Thomas said. "Your support is appreciated.GÇ¥

During the ground-breaking event in April, Yingling said he worked on the project in memory of his friend Gabriel Mason Hobbs, who passed away in September 2011. He and Hobbs spent countless hours skateboarding around Monroe, Yingling said, long before Monroe ever had a skate park. He said he served as a volunteer on the project to honor Hobbs' memory.

"Thank you to the Monroe City Councilmembers and the skate park development volunteers, Todd Yingling and Aris Williams, for their time and work to develop the concept design and thank you to the Monroe community for all their support,GÇ¥ Thomas said.-á

In addition to the ribbon-cutting ceremony and Skate the Lake competition, Saturday's events will include a skateboarding competition at the newly rebuilt park. Riders interested in participating are invited to sign up on the day of the event. The competition is free for spectators.