NEW MEADOWS, Idaho — Dozens of people celebrated the official groundbreaking of New Meadow’s future skatepark Friday evening.
“We’re not quite ready to begin construction,” community member Preston Woods said, “but we are getting ready to start prepping the area.”
The skatepark will be called the “Mehen Memorial Skatepark” in honor of Rory and Sara Mehen. The beloved couple was shot and killed last October at the inn they owned in town.
Amid the tragedy, Mayor Julie Good said the skatepark gives people something positive to think about.
“We just decided that we were going to turn this around and follow the dream that he had, even if him and Sara are no longer here,” she said. “It has turned out to be something that has energized us and makes us want to become better people just like they were.”
The idea for a community skatepark began in 2021, Woods said. Rory founded the New Meadows Skate Park nonprofit, and he brought a bunch of people on board to begin fundraising.
Even after the couple’s deaths, Woods said they hardly took a break trying to raise enough money. So far, they’ve raised about $410,000 dollars. More than $250,000 of that total was officially donated by the J.A. & Kathryn Albertson Foundation on Friday.
He said they still need about $100,000 to start construction. If they get that total by this fall, Woods believes the skatepark will be completed by Summer 2024.
The future skatepark is located right next to New Meadow’s K-12 school. Woods said a bike park, along with a youth center, are also being built nearby.
“I imagine this is going to be a hub where every kid is going to be hanging out,” he said. “Rory would be so proud of what the community is doing, Sara as well.”
John Cody Hart pleaded guilty to the murders as part of an agreement in exchange for the death penalty being withdrawn.
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