FOLEY — The Forward City is one step closer to having its own skate park.

During its regular meeting Monday, the Foley City Council approved the purchase of skate-park ramps from American Ramp Company for $86,602.17.

According to Foley Recreation Department Director David Thompson, the ramps are pre-cast concrete structures.

“They’re poured in a factory,” he said in an interview.

As previously reported, those ramps will be situated in a space designed especially for skaters in Max Griffin Park.

A design break-down indicates that the park will include approximately 21 features for skating enthusiasts. They include two quarter pipes, stairs and two different grind rails. But Thompson touts two additional features in the design: the hubba ledge and half pipe.

“These are the big ones,” he said.

Those two features will help make Foley’s park different from those already in place in neighboring municipalities, Thompson added.

According to the recreation director, the features should be constructed by mid-September.

“The ramps will take four to six weeks to build,” Thompson said.

Then they’ll be delivered and construction at the park will take place.

“We’re expecting it to be done in October and have the park open by Halloween,” Thompson said.

The park hasn’t gone without its share of controversy. A previous Onlooker article garnered several online comments decrying the company tapped to build the ramps. In addition, Thompson has received similar emails with the same sentiments. But a recent email sent to The Onlooker by Kim Cook of Oxford, Miss. Showed that neither she nor any of her fellow opposers of the company or the structures to be produced have ever even been to Foley.

“My tie to Foley is that I am a skateboarder,” Cook replied to an email query about her objections to the project. “ I feel that it is my duty to give back to skateboarding by doing whatever I can to see that every community has access to a high quality skatepark. ARC does not provide this for the skateboarders.”

However, Thompson said the city of Foley, along with a committee made up entirely of Foley skaters, thoroughly researched the project and is confident with its moving forward.

“The group selected pre-cast concrete for the ramps and are comfortable with using the same ramps that Gulf Shores has been using for the past six years,” he said.