There's no money to build them yet, but three public meetings and an open house last weekend at the Ballard Commons Park have been held to get people's ideas of where new skateboard parks should be located in Seattle, said Susanne Friedman from Seattle Parks and Recreation.
"And now we're going to spend the rest of the summer culling through suggestions people gave us," she said.
There were hundreds of them, but none of the suggestions had anything to do with replacing the Seattle Center skateboard park that will have to make room for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation complex, Friedman said. "Parks is not taking the lead on that."
Instead, she said, a consultant hired by the city to scope out possible new locations at the Seattle Center has presented a report to the Seattle City Council for review. The status of that review was unknown at press deadline, but an earlier proposal for a replacement next to the CSO project on Elliott Avenue West had been put on hold in the meantime.
Still, a goal of the Skatepark Advisory Task Force was to have new skateboard parks in park districts in the northeast, northwest, central-east, central-west, southeast and southwest parts of Seattle, Friedman said. "We are looking citywide."
That includes Magnolia and Queen Anne, she said. The Magnolia Advisory Committee, which oversees operations at the neighborhood community center, is interested in setting up a skateboard park near Magnolia Village, possibly by the community center and possibly by the Pop Mounger Pool, Friedman said.
New locations for skateboard parks in Queen Anne included along the waterfront in Myrtle Edwards Park, at the new park at Queen Anne Avenue and Roy Street and near the Queen Anne Community Center, she added.
But both the potential Magnolia and Queen Anne sites have to follow guidelines that prohibit a new skateboard park from replacing an existing use, such as a ballfield or tennis courts, Friedman noted.
Other criteria include avoiding environmentally sensitive areas, choosing areas with suitable topography and putting in skateboard parks that will benefit neighborhoods and skateboarders on an equal basis.
The idea is to avoid "plunkatecture," Friedman said of a term used to describe simply plunking down a facility somewhere without paying attention to the effects on its surroundings.
The draft plan also identifies different kinds of facilities. Here's a look at them:
Skatedot
They would be less than 1,500 square feet in size and would be located in "small neighborhood parks and throughout the city's non-parks areas by identifying existing spaces that already are or could be used for skating," according to the draft report.
Skatespot
They would be between 1,500 and 10,000 square feet in size, and off-site impacts to the community such as light and noise would be limited.
This size skateboard facility would also have to be near public transportation and have good pedestrian and vehicle access. There would also have to be a spot where parents, emergency services, the police and the public could watch what's going on, according to the draft report.
District
They would be between 10,000 and 30,000 square feet in size and close to water fountains, trashcans and restrooms. The same kinds of restrictions and amenities proposed for skatespots would also apply to district facilities, along with having access to adequate parking, according to the draft.
Regional
A big gun in the system, a regional skateboard park would be larger than 30,000 square feet in size, and it would include the same kinds of restrictions and amenities as skatespot and district facilities, according to the draft.
Cost for skateboard parks can vary, depending on how elaborate they are, Friedman said. But the cost can range from $25 to $32 per square foot, she said.
Like locations, estimated costs for a particular skateboard park have not yet been identified. "We're not at that stage yet," Friedman said.
For that matter, she conceded, a source of money for the facilities hasn't been identified, either. "Really, it's a 20-year plan." Money from skateboard legend Tony Hawks' foundation might be one source, she said, but Friedman suspects the majority of funding might come from community grants.
The deadline for comments is Friday, June 30, and a list of preliminary locations and the kinds of skateboard parks recommended for those sites will be ready for review by September.
The Seattle City Council and the Board of Park Commissioners will receive a preliminary briefing in December, and a final report will be ready for city consideration next January.
For more information, contact Friedman at susanne.friedman@seattle.gov or 684-0902.
Staff reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com or 461-1309.[[In-content Ad]]
