GRASSROOTS SUPPORT
For many years, local skateboarding advocates encouraged the Eugene Parks Department and city officials to make funding a large, covered, flagship skatepark a priority. In 2004, a handful of local skaters banded together and hit the streets to ask their friends and neighbors a simple question: “Will you sign this petition to demonstrate your support for building a large, flagship skatepark under the Washington-Jefferson Bridge?” (Click here to see the original cover sheet on the petition.) In the span of just a couple of months, they collected over 1,700 signatures. The petition was submitted to City Council members as well as the Parks and Open Space Division.
CITY OF EUGENE PARKS PLAN
After a multi-year public input process, the Parks Department issued a guiding plan for the parks system in Eugene. Building a regional downtown skatepark was identified as a Level 1 (the highest level) priority. Here is the relevant section from the 2006 final plan: Parks Recreation Open Space Plan Excerpt.
PARTIAL FUNDING IDENTIFIED
Of course, having it in the plan is only one step on the journey. The next step was assuring that at least some public dollars could be allocated to building the park. That assurance came in the spring of 2007 when 2008-2013 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) was released: click here for the relevant CIP Excerpt. The CIP set aside a total of $292,000 of public money for the skatepark.
SITING
In the spring of 2008, the city conducted a public review process to consider 3 potential skatepark locations under the WJ Bridge. In the fall of 2008, the city finalized the site location. The site chosen was the center area between the existing basketball courts and the horseshoe area. Click here for a short video clip showing the area. Click here for a general layout of the site location. The city plans to raise additional funds from other sources to pay for relocating bathroom facilities as well as creating a new play structure. Click here to read the Parks Preliminary Site Suitability Analysis. Click here to read an Urban Geography paper written on this topic by Tyson Lewis.
DESIGN
Throughout the spring and summer of 2009, a group made up of members of the SES Steering Committee, the SES Design Committee, and City representatives spent countless hours evaluating proposals from the world’s best skatepark designers. After narrowing the field and meeting in person with the finalists, the committee chose Dreamland Skateparks as the designer for the W-J Skatepark. Throughout the fall of 2009, Dreamland held a series of public workshops to engage the skate community and finalize a design. In 2010, Dreamland worked to finalize the construction documents as well as their price estimates.
FUNDRAISING
It’s time to raise some dough and make this park a reality! With current construction prices averaging $30-40 per square foot, in order to build Phase 1 of a regional flagship skatepark, the total budget needs to be at least $500,000. So, our goal is to raise $250,000 from private sources by December 31, 2011. If we can get there, construction could start in the spring of 2012.
Click here to see the back of the postcard that went around in 2009. Click here to see the front.
