After receiving positive feedback from Allegheny County, Bellevue will move ahead with a grant application that could produce much of the funding necessary to construct a skate board plaza in Bayne Park.

Council president Kathy Coder and administrative assistant Katie Hale said that the borough had submitted a pre-application for a Community Development Block Grant that sought funding for a $360,000 project in Bayne Park that also included an amphitheater, dog park and boccie court. Hale said that county officials quickly zeroed in on the skate plaza aspect.

Bellevue officials have been working with Spohn Ranch Skateparks, which offers free design services and the opportunity for communities to take advantage of lower pricing through a federal purchasing program.

The plaza envisioned by designers would be open for use by groups other than skateboarders, and could even feature a “sculpture garden” in which skate ramps become works of art.

Coder said that Bellevue would be the first area town to incorporate the artistic aspect, which appealed to county officials. She also said that because Bellevue is part of the Allegheny Together program, the borough would get special consideration of grant applications connected to the business district. That could mean that Bellevue is more likely to get the funding than if the plaza was located at Memorial Park.

Library director Sharon Helfrich said that one of the problems at Bayne was limited parking, and this could impact the library if parking is taken up by people coming to the skateboard plaza. Engineer John Rusnak said that plans for the park include more parking spaces.

A prior plan to construct a skateboard area in Bayne Park was left on the drawing board after the insurance company at the time required extensive security measures that made the cost prohibitive. Council member Linda Woshner urged those looking into the plaza to contact the borough’s current insurance carrier for information. Coder later stated that she had been assured by the insurance company that the borough’s policy would cover a skate park, and that she had been told by people from Spohn Ranch that insurance rates for skateboard parks have decreased as insurers gathered statistics on injuries.

Hale said that Bellevue’s grant application would seek less than the original $360,000, now that other aspects of the project were being eliminated. The grant, if awarded, would cover 85 percent of the cost of the skateboard plaza, with Bellevue responsible for the other 15 percent. Coder said that Bellevue’s share could be paid in the form of labor, and the cost would be greatly reduced if the public works crew could do things like site preparation.

The deadline for the application is June 27.