St. Cloud boy determined to build a skatepark
If Austin Lee had one wish, it'd be for a driveway, a hundred miles long. Instead, this 14-year old will settle for something more realistic; like convincing the city of St. Cloud to build a new skatepark.
Austin proudly rolls out a set of blueprints onto a picnic table in his backyard. "This is similar to what we're hoping for."
Austin's idea for a new skate plaza took shape a few months ago. He eventually chased down St. Cloud's mayor at a Fourth of July celebration and laid it on him. "He said we should set up a meeting, thought it was a great idea."
Mayor Dave Kleis remembers the day well. He says off all the meetings he had that day, the one with Austin was the most prodcutive. "He came in, he was dressed in a tie and he had all kinds of charts and graphs and explained his idea for a skatepark."
Impressed with his presentation, the mayor not only heard Austin out, he gave him a voice with the city. Austin says, "I was recently appointed to the Park and Rec Board."
That's right, now a full-fledged, voting park board member, Austin now had the clout to make his dreams a reality. So now he spends all his free time researching other success stories and calling everyone from street skaters to high-profile business people, trying to raise the nearly one million dollars needed for a new park. Austin says, "It's 40-thousand square feet, completely street so it brings out the downtown type of setting."
Proving once and for all, you're never "too young" and no wish is ever "too big."
Austin Lee, "I'm hoping to try and start construction in the next year or two, probably like, next two years we'll start breaking ground. That's what I'm hoping for."
