Growing up in the City of Tonawanda, Gregory Hayes Holler tried competitive team sports, but they weren’t his thing.

“He was a very shy and quiet kid,” explained his father, Don.

When Gregory showed an interest in extreme sports, his parents bought him a BMX bicycle.

“He started to make new friends, spend more time outside,” his father said. “It was a healthy thing for him.”

Some of his new friends also were skateboarders. And one of the places they gathered was Ives Pond Park.

After Gregory’s death in November 2008, at age 17, his parents wanted to find a way to memorialize him. His doctor suggested a skate park. The Hollers are trying to raise money to build a park to replace the small, outdated facility in Ives Pond Park. While the City of Tonawanda doesn’t have money for such a project, it will provide a 6,500-square-foot site in another area of the city-owned park for its construction.

“I’m sure there’s some in-kind services we can help with,” Mayor Ron Pilozzi said. “This would be a nice addition for the kids.”

Based on input from some of Gregory’s friends and fellow extreme-sports enthusiasts, Holler envisions an all-concrete facility that could be used by skateboarders, bikers and in-line skaters.

The city’s existing skate park opened in 2002 and cost approximately $30,000, according to Recreation Director Linda Foels.

Holler’s plan, which ultimately would include an open-air pavilion and sidewalk access to the park from State Street, could run between $150,000 and $200,000. “A heck of a lot of money,” he acknowledged.

Last week, the project was declared the winner of a $50,000 grant from the Pepsi Refresh Project. Each month, online voting determines the top 10 entries in six categories to receive grants; last month, the Gregory Hayes Holler Memorial Fund finished 10th in the “Neighborhoods” category.

“The Tonawanda skate park will not only be a great way to honor the memory of Gregory Holler, but it will provide a safe place for the young people of Tonawanda to skate and bike,” said Michael Adams, a regional sales director for Pepsi.

City Hall employees were among those casting votes in support of the project, the mayor said. “I’m just so happy that it worked out for them,” Pilozzi said.

The Gregory Hayes Holler Memorial Fund has nonprofit status sponsored by Post 264, American Legion. An April fundraiser brought in $23,000, Holler said, and another, a pig roast, is scheduled for Sept. 12 in Tonawanda Volunteer Firemen’s Park.

Holler also is looking for other grant opportunities and hopes local businesses would consider donating materials.

Meanwhile, he is trying to determine how far the money already in hand would go toward building the skate park.

With a one-year deadline to use the Pepsi grant, “I can’t sit and procrastinate any more with nothing done,” Holler said.