Last week's public meeting about Seattle Center's Skatepark focused on skateboard elements of the park, such as safety barriers, how it will be juxtaposed to neighboring structures and adding a ticket booth.
Skateboarders crowded around images of the park tacked up on the walls of the Center's Shaw Room, and offered their opinions on what elements ought to be included in the skatepark. They also exchanged ideas with design team members.
Last Thursday's meeting was the third in a series with one more to be held before the final design is submitted to the Seattle Design Commission on July 17. The date of that meeting has yet to be announced. Demolition of Pavilion A, the site of the future park, will start this winter with the park slated to open in June 2009.
"We have a lot of goals with this skatepark," said Jill Crary, Redevelopment Director of Seattle Center Project Management and Redevelopment. "Some of them include being attractive, unique, safe and inclusive, but especially to be a good neighbor." Another important element, she said, is that the skatepark will be open to families with kids of all ages.
Scott Shinn, director of Parents for Skateparks, commented that the small turnout at the last week's meeting indicated how far they had come in the process, which at the outset had seen much larger crowds, very vocal about where the skatepark should be located and what the design of the park should be. Shinn, a skateboarder himself, has been working on the project since 2005.
"My main interest is creating a vibrant, public space for skateboarders," he said. With the skatepark design nearing completion, he feels it will be a great addition to the Center's campus. "I'm looking forward now to seeing the Center choose a well qualified builder to make the dream a reality."
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