City Center Skate Park
As a top-priority project of the Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) Plan, work is underway to plan and build a new, regional skate park in Washington-Jefferson Park.
Planning Workshop #1 COMPLETE!
Over 30 neighbors and interested parties convened at the Campbell Center on Tuesday, May 6th for the first public workshop event to discuss site options and build community consensus around a location for the new skate park. The key goals for this event will be:
- Provide a brief project overview
- Discuss opportunities and constraints for different sites in Wash/Jeff Park
- Develop a consensus for a preferred site
For a full report of the proceedings and outome of the meeting, please see the link to the right.
Site Challenge Questionnaire COMPLETE!
To offer more opportunities for the community to share their ideas, an online questionnaire was advertised and posted on this site from April 18th and May 20th. Additional feedback was collected and reviewed to help staff decide on the most appropriate location for the proposed skatepark. A complete report is available (see link to the right).
What's Next?
Washington/Jefferson Park has been identified as a preferred site for the City Center Skate Park due to the central location and the large expanse of cover offered by the I-105 bridge. Several possible locations exist for a 15,000 - 20,000 square foot facility under cover of the I-105 bridge between the railroad tracks and First Avenue. The result of the public meeting and Site Challenge Questionnaire, including an exploration of alternative sites, indicateds that either the playground or the horseshoe courts will be the preferred location for the skatepark. Next steps in the site selection process will include reviewing the results of the public meeting and questionnaire, conducting additional stakeholder interviews, and researching technical information to assist City of Eugene Parks and Open Space staff in making a final recommendation for the skatepark site. Several weeks will be needed to gather information and make a recommendation, which will be announced on this site.
Once a location is identified for the new park, a skate park designer will be brought on board to help the local community fire up its collective imagination and craft a design. This will involve at least two major public workshops. A cost estimate will also be prepared as part of this effort to help community fundraising kick off in earnest.
The preliminary schedule calls for construction to be complete in 2010, depending on fundraising and grant success.
Background
Eugene has been a leader in providing public skate park facilities for over 15 years, with the first park completed in 1993 (Amazon Park). Since 2000, four other skate parks have been built, including Cal Young, Churchill, Bethel, and Trainsong. While these parks have been popular and come a long way towards meeting the community's needs, a strong showing of public support during the development of the PROS plan highlighted the need for another, larger facility serving the greater Eugene area. Dubbed the City Center Skate Park, this is intended to be a top-quality facility with full cover for year-round public use, rain or shine.
Funding and Partnership
Not long after the PROS Project and Priority Plan was adopted by the Eugene City Council in 2006, partial funding was secured through the City's Capital Improvement Plan using revenue from park systems development charges (SDC's). The budget beginning July 2008 included $292,000 in seed money to help get the project started and serve as a foundation for a major community fundraising campaign.
SkateEugene, a local organization dedicated to making the City Center Skate Park a reality, has set an ambitions fundraising goal of $200,000 by December 2009. Skateeugene and the City of Eugene Parks and Open Space Division will be working in partnership to secure this funding as well as get local residents involved in the design process. Combined funds of at $450,000 or more will be needed to design and build the new park.
