Laramie Skate Park receives $50K donation
Jerry Bucher’s donation was offered in memory of his late nephew, Cody Heuer. Bucher said he hopes the donation inspires further donations for the skate park and for projects throughout Laramie.
Long-time Laramie resident Jerry Bucher hopes to honor his late nephew, Cody Heuer, with a sizable donation to one of Heuer’s favorite places: the Laramie Skate Park.
The $50,000 donation means the skate park’s ongoing renovation will include lighting upgrades and an additional 1000-square feet of skateable environment.
Bucher’s donation was added to the $200,000 set aside for skate park renovation and expansion in the Laramie City Council’s fiscal year 2022 budget, bringing the project’s total to a quarter of a million dollars.
“(Bucher) intended this donation to enhance the life of Laramie’s youth,” said Todd Feezer, assistant city manager. “It’s a very tragic incident that led to this donation, but out of this donation, I think we’re able to do some very fantastic things.”
Heuer died in June at the age of 29. Bucher remembers him as adventure-seeking.
“He was an extremely adventurous guy in so many ways — mountain biking, road biking, snowmobiling,” Bucher said. “Cody was a bright guy in so many ways, and he enjoyed the skate park.”
The skate park renovations will include the addition of a placard memorializing Heuer, with an embossed image of his photo.
“It was where Cody hung out throughout his youth,” Bucher said. “It was two blocks away from where he lived and the skate park was his place — he loved it.”
The Skate Park
The Laramie Skate Park has been a fixture of the local community since its construction in the late nineties, occupying a patch of land in LaBonte Park. The skate park is occupied just about all day long, with kids, teenagers, adults and families.
As the Laramie City Council accepted Bucher’s donation earlier this month, several councilors spoke of the skate park’s importance to the community.
“I wanted to thank you as someone who spent the lion’s share of their childhood in a skate park,” Councilor Brian Harrington said. “It’s a significant thing that you’re doing for a lot of young people in our community. I think it will have lasting implications, and it will certainly keep kids out of trouble — or just in the right amount of trouble — and I think that’s really valuable.”
Mayor Paul Weaver said Bucher’s donation was the latest example of community members coming out to support the park, which has always been supported by a large base of fundraising.
“I know how popular that skate park is,” Weaver said. “Who knows? Maybe we have a future Olympian out there skating in that thing.”
Bucher said he was in conversation with Laramie Police Chief Dale Stalder as he prepared to make the donation. Bucher hopes the lighting upgrades will improve safety — something he thinks is lacking, especially at night.
“The skate park is a wonderful, wonderful place for youth recreation,” he said. “But it needs to be safe for them.”
Encouraging philanthropy
Bucher’s story is a familiar one for long-term Laramie residents. He originally came to the city as a physics doctoral student in the early seventies.
“I never thought I would stay here, but I fell in love with this community,” he said. “I’d like to convey to the younger residents how important it is to volunteer, contribute and do everything they can for Laramie. That is so important.”
Bucher does this in large ways, like donating to Hospice of Laramie, and in little ways, like how he carried a garbage bag on his walks to campus, picking up litter as he went.
“It’s all those little things that we, as a city’s people, can do to help,” Bucher said. “It’s not just we pay our taxes. It’s everything else.”
Now retired, he’s donating to city improvements like the ongoing construction in LaBonte Park.
But he is hoping his gift encourages others to donate.
“I want to see a whole lot of other people kicking in,” Bucher told the council. “We’ve got a wonderful town and I’m so lucky to have lived here for so many years.”
Weaver lauded that goal.
“It’s an act of generosity that we greatly appreciate,” he said. “But it doesn’t just stop there. It allows the city and other community members that care about things like the skate park to build on top of it, so it doesn’t stop after one single act. It ripples out.”
Councilor Andi Summerville agreed.
“You’ve set a high bar for everybody in this community and I hope we can challenge the community to hit that high bar,” she said.
For Bucher’s part, he said he’s not done donating. The next project he’d like to help with and see funded? The completion of the Greenbelt Trail.
“I’m a fortunate guy in a lot of ways,” he said. “And I can do a lot more to help with the city parks and recreation program. We’ve got a wonderful town. I can’t imagine a town I would have enjoyed living in more than Laramie.”
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