Correction: The print version of this article incorrectly reported the meeting was on Oct. 18; it was actually Oct. 25. The article has been updated.
“The sky is the limit” when it comes to designing the new Enumclaw skate park.
Well, so long as the sky doesn’t cost more than $300,000.
The city and Grindline Skateparks hosted a community meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 25, to introduce the skate park designing/construction company and spitball some ideas for what the new skate park should look like.
“How can this skateboard park say ‘Enumclaw’?” said project manger James Klinedinst. “We want to go above and beyond on this.”
Grindline may be a name you’re already familiar with — the Seattle-based company built the Bacon and Eggs skatepark in Wilkeson earlier this year, the Muckleshoot Skatepark in Auburn in 2011, the Sumner park in 2001, and dozens more around the country.
This project is only just in the beginning stages, and Grindline still needs to closely examine the local skatepark before it can come up with some conceptual designs.
That said, there are some goals Kiledinst wants to stick to.
First is that the skate park should be good for both experts and beginners; second, the park should incorporate various “crime prevention through environmental design” strategies (no dark corners, clear lines of sight, etc.); and third, the park needs to be uniquely Enumclaw.
How that will look isn’t too clear yet, though a skateable Mt. Rainier was suggested, or a concrete structure that resembles a 4×4 truck or hotrod (think Cruise Enumclaw). Sasquatch imagery was also thrown out there.
The budget for this project, according to council members, is about $300,000. Though the money is not yet appropriated, as the 2023 budget has not yet been officially adopted, officials at the meeting said it’s unlikely that amount will change.
Klinedinst said that will be enough to build a skatepark about the size of Buckley’s (about 13,000 square feet), “which is decent”.
Construction is hoped to begin by spring 2023.
SOME SUGGESTIONS
Only about a dozen members of the public, plus some city staff and council members, attended the meeting, but Grindline came away with several ideas to incorporate into their preliminary designs.
One of the most popular was lighting, given Dwight Garrett currently has none.
“Having done this a long time, if you have a lit skatepark, kids will go there,” said attendee Moses Hansen, who said he was there when the original Enumclaw skate park was built. “Those kids will skate as long as the lights are on. If you want to get kids out of the house and active, that’s huge.”
Unfortunately, adding lighting to the skate park project could suck a lot of money out of the budget.
“That’s one of those things where, when you do an outreach to the community, you can try to see if there are business owners that are willing to donate time and materials,” said Council member Anthony Wright, mentioning that’s how the city was able to light up the new first responders monument outside city hall.
Klinedinst said Grindline could put in conduits for future lighting, if the community wants to take some time to fundraise.
Other ideas include and suggestions include a swimming pool-type skating bowl, half pipes, the need of a maintenance plan, skateable art, a focus on skating flow, a manual pad, the need for additional parking and traffic control, rails, native plants for landscape architecture, and on-site water drainage.
MORE INFO
If you weren’t able to make this meeting, that’s OK — there will be another meeting in the near-ish future, which is when Grindline will present some preliminary designs.
You can also head to the project’s Facebook page at tinyurl.com/enumclaw-skatepark-project to post or message Grindline your suggestions and receive project updates.
