Athens mayor appoints committee to study skateboard park
ATHENS - Athens Mayor Dan Williams appointed an advisory committee Thursday to make recommendations by the end of next month for a skateboard park.
Williams said he also wants the Limestone County Commission to become involved “because half the youths who would use such a park are rural residents.” Committee members are Don and Teresa Todd and their son, Matt; Tony and Margaret Pack; Donna Alston; Jerry Higman; and Angie Christopher.
Tuesday night, a crowd estimated at 200 attended a community meeting at City Hall, and Williams said about half live outside Athens.
Talk about a park was triggered by the recent death of a skateboarder on a road just outside the city.
On Jan. 8, Clinton Kirby Roberts, 13, of Elkmont was killed on a skateboard when he swerved into traffic and collided with a motorcycle driven by Christopher Lee Smith, 28, of Athens.
Smith was seriously injured and had more than 50 screws and 16 plates surgically implanted in his face, relatives said. His wife, Claire, had a broken leg.
The Smiths do not have medical insurance and a fund has been set up at any First American Bank.