The city park offers a wide range of uses

Due to the adverse weather, only the official part of the opening program planned for Friday, including the speech by Lord Mayor Frank Frühauf, could take place. And even this had to be moved to the foyer of the trade fair due to the incessant rain. "Nevertheless, today is a good day for Idar-Oberstein," said the Lord Mayor. "Because today's official opening marks the completion of a long but all the more important project." After all, the city park is a new jewel in the gemstone and jewelry city.

In his speech, Frühauf looked back on the history of the project, the origins of which date back to a future workshop held in June 2018 as part of the youth participation project Jump-IO! ("Jugend macht Politik für Idar-Oberstein") youth participation project in June 2018. This is where the idea for such a facility, initially intended as a meeting place for young people with sports facilities, a barbecue area and other facilities, was born. At the beginning of 2019, the project was recognized as one of 36 projects from all over Rhineland-Palatinate as part of the youth engagement competition. This was followed by a long period of planning, which was constantly supported by Jump-!O and the skater community. A skate area was added to the planned facility relatively quickly. A suitable location was also found in the leisure area of the Nahetal business park. The area is located in the immediate vicinity of the well-frequented Nahbollenbach Bike Park, is connected to public transport and is located directly on the cycle path.

Although the municipal committees were also enthusiastic about the project from the outset, its implementation took some time. Of course, the financing of the project, which has now cost 1.5 million euros, also had to be clarified. Through the mediation of Dr. Joe Weingarten, member of the German Bundestag, a grant of 268,000 euros was obtained from the federal program "Renovation of municipal facilities in the areas of sport, youth and culture". The district of Birkenfeld, Kreissparkasse Birkenfeld, the OIE, the Bürkle Foundation and the Julius Haupt company contributed a further 110,000 euros.

Following the preparations for the project by the city administration - the civil engineering department, building management, youth welfare office and treasury were involved - the IBUT office from Birkenfeld took on the specialist planning, the skate park was planned and built by Landskate GmbH from Cologne and the extensive civil engineering work was carried out by the construction company A. Schwarz from Idar-Oberstein. "I would like to thank everyone involved in this project for their perseverance and commitment. It was worth it," praised Mayor Frühauf. Building contractor Marko Schwarz, who donated 500 euros to the city youth welfare office for the implementation of a youth project, received extra praise.

In addition to the skate park, the city park has a beach volleyball court, a small playing field, a stage with seating, containers for technology and workshops, a toilet container, an inclusive swing and other sports equipment as well as direct access to the banks of the Nahe. "In conjunction with the neighboring Nahbollenbach bike park, the new city park forms a great leisure area that offers a wide range of uses," concluded the mayor. He is certain that the facility will quickly become a central meeting point and a place of encounter, sport and recreation for the entire community.

Fortunately, the weather improved on Saturday so that the second day of the opening ceremony could go ahead as planned. The activities originally planned for Friday were also made up for. As a result, a large number of people of all ages were able to experience the recreational qualities of the city park for themselves. "It was a promising start, and the skate park in particular was put to excellent use," reported Sebastian Herzig from the city youth welfare office, who was instrumental in overseeing the project together with his colleague Sabine Moser. All program items - ranging from skate and beach volleyball workshops, basketball and streetball to face painting and henna tattoos - were able to take place and the atmosphere was great. Only the band performance planned for the evening was canceled due to the threat of rain, as the stage is unfortunately not covered. But perhaps a solution will be found.