WHERE SHOULD THE NEW SKATEPARK GO?
July 20, 2010 12 Comments
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION…Just Where Should the New Park Go?
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This same info will appear, but a reply section will be at the bottom of the post (near the bottom of the page) to answer the following questions. Thanks!
We’re trying to choose the best location for the skatepark, and we would like your input on where the best location is, and why is it the best? We have two choices for the park location, one being at the new Lake County Community Park, and the other at Huck Finn Park where the tennis courts are situated south of W.6th Street (Leiter St. Ball Fields area). Please carefully consider the two locations.
Some thoughts to prepare you for the questions below.
Should the skatepark be added to the Lake County Community Park as an enhancement to the new facilities? Or, should the skatepark be utilized as a way to help revitalize the Huck Finn Park containing the Leiter Ice Rink and Tennis Courts? Currently, there are plans to improve two tennis courts and to also continue working on the ice rink. Some other things to keep in mind are proximity to schools, accessibility (how do you plan on getting there?), and the amenities that each park area provides. So lets get started…
1. Where should the skatepark be located?
2. What are the potential benefits and liabilities to locating the skatepark at the Lake County Community Park?
3. What are the potential benefits and liabilities to locating the skatepark at the Tennis Courts (Huck Finn Park)?
4. Will you, your family, or someone you know use the new skatepark? If yes, how will the park be utilized? Will you or others that you know skateboard, bmx bike, or inline skate?
5. Should the skatepark have lights for nighttime use?
Thank you for your time in answering these questions. Let us know if there are other questions to consider for the future.
Check out the Lake County Recreation Survey for other skatepark opinions: What Comes Next?
Cheers!
SKATE LEADVILLE
LAKE COUNTY COMMUNITY PARK LOCATION (At the end of W. 6th Street and McWethy Drive)
A possible location has not yet been identified.
View Larger Map
HUCK FINN PARK/TENNIS COURT LOCATION (Near Leiter Ball Fields and Ice Rink)
It has been proposed to utilize the space of 3 out of the 5 Tennis Courts. Two of the tennis courts will remain and will be rehabilitated. Estimated skatepark size here would be around 21,000 square feet.
About skateleadville
Huck Finn location gets my vote as well!
Huck Finn park location all the way!!
If y’all are talkin about a gravity park, here’s one in action. Huck Finn is the only spot with a suitable grade/incline for this type of park. Here’s a link to a “gravity style” skate park. Looks like the lines work well, and it seems like there is a section at the end and start for entry level ability transition skating. This looks like a lot of fun. Check it out.
Huck Finn park is a good place, what about the area north of West Park? Big field where the tennis court is.
I think the new community park area is a better site. Noise issues, as well as less angles for vandals to be discreet, are two reasons. All other skate features here have seen heavy vandalism in the past. It is possible to damage concrete features and we do not have the resources to fix them. Take a look at Kremmlings new park. A very expensive concrete park that I feel was a complete failure. I drove there a few weeks ago just to check it out. What I fund was a poor design with transitions that were too tight. Bad flow layout, and a horrible street area design. When you have a three foot deep bowl area, it is unskatable if you transition from flat to verticle in too small an area.
The other problem I noticed was extensive trash, ciggy butts, gravel and even damaged and smashed sections of the concrete coping. This park lies within a football throw of the high school doors. If they have vandalism issue in such a visible area, imagine what it could have been like if the vandals felt like they were out of site.
I have spent countless hours in the Huck Finn, or “Tetanus” park. Cars driving on 6th st dont really have a good close view, and no one driving below can see up over the bank. The park there was a disaster and since it was the only place you could legally skate on a smmoth surface, I was there… alot. Broken glass was abundant, and my friend and myself have confronted teens we witnessed breaking bottles on SEVERAL occations.
Not that the new community park is in the most high profile area, but with all the other activity, presence of events and lighting, I feel vandalism would not just resume as it always had. I’m worried the bad apples will pick up right where they left off at Huck Finn
The new community park area is, well, new. This is what we need for a world class skatepark. Not for the park itself to serve the purpose of rehabilitating a decrepid, neglected area of fields. If that area was in such need of fixing up, things would have been done already. The tennis courts are not even flat, as well as stable. They show signs of instability judging by the ever widening cracks and uneven ground. We cant just build on top of them, they need ripped up. Who is going to fix up the surrounding area? Who will keep it maintained? The Huck Finn courts and surrounding area need extensive rehab, and continuing maintenace at a greater cost to the county. This has never been done, even in friendlier economic times.
WE DON’T HAVE THE MONEY. We dont have to overhaul any of the surrounding area at the new community park. Save Lake county money and humiliation by building the new skatepark at the new recreation area. Do not cost Lake County money by building this park somwhere that need an expensive overhaul just to seem like a park area and not a vacant lot.
Finally, if we think outside the box here, we can make this into an opportunity to be the first park to be useable by skate or snow. It wuold not be hard to design aspects of the park that were shreddable if covered by snow, By park Skiers and Boarders. This is a huge and growing demographic of mobile and young people who will drive here from Summit and Eagle and even Denver Counties. If we have the option of design freedom and some lighting, we can encourage local and area youth to be actively involved in the sports that dominate area tourism.
I think ths skate park should be rebuilt in the old location of Huck Finn park as well. However, I am a tennis player and we do not want the Tennis courts to be taken out. Those are the only tennis courts in this town and they are not the best either, but please don’t let the Skatepark project take over the courts? I think Huck Finn park needs the most help and with an addition of a skatepark the park can return to the fun place it has been.
Thanks for the comment Kelly. I’ll make sure the Rec Board hears your concern. A mandate that we’ve received from the commissioners is that if we do develop the skatepark at the tennis court location, that at least two courts will be preserved for public use. What we would like to do is renovate the courts as well, and bring them up to snuff. I’m not sure if the skatepark committee will be tackling that initiative as well as the skatepark, or if the Rec Board will. We believe that there may be funding through US Tennis. Please post your tennis-specific development concerns on the county recreation blog which is at this link:http://www.lakecountyco.com/recreation/node/445 and talk to Peter Frykholm in the rec department. Thanks again, Greg Race
I vote for Huck Finn. I’d like to see it begin the revitalization of that area, leading us to have three areas of recreation revitalization happening at the same time: Dutch Henri, Huck Finn, and the Community Park.
My vote is for the HuckFinn site.
I think the huck finn area is good. But people will never see it cause no one goes out there any more.I think to get more people out there it should go with the multi court.Cause you could make them tenis courts agian and would’nt have to make new ones.I think the more room the better for the skate park and not much at huck finn.thanks
i can’t tell you how many times my friends and i were sitting around doing nothing when someone says “hey lets go skateboarding!” only to find out that not only does this town have no skatepark, but all the streets and sidewalks are so broken and full of holes that you could barely ride a skateboard anywhere in town. when i found out that there was a new skatepark in the works it got me very excited. many people i know personally, who have been skating for years, would definitely utilize the new facility, not to mention the limitless number of youth who have never had a place (chance) to learn this good, clean, fun passtime. i also agree that the Huck Finn park needs some remodeling. i like the location better too. i can’t wait, thank you for finally making our town complete.
I believe compelling arguments could be made for having the new skatepark at either location. My personal feeling is that we should use this project as an opportunity to give the Huck Finn area a massive overhaul, and turn it into a beautiful community area. At present, much of the area is dilapidated–with weeds, poor fencing, oudated equipment, etc. This project could be a real catalyst for change–including the creation of much-needed restroom facilities at that location. Because the area is already busy with recreational activity (the ballfields, pump track, etc.), I think it is appropriate to enhance and expand the opportunities at this site. Over time, we will have other opportunities to place new facilities and amenities at the Community Park location. But for now, I think the skateboard park project should focus on anchoring a revitalized Huck Finn Park area. Thanks for entertaining my opinion.
The skatepark should be located in the old location at huck finn park. This location is closer to town and more accessible to younger users. There aren’t any large parks in town, and this would give huck finn park a needed revitalization.
The skatepark should be mostly concrete to avoid high maintenance costs, but should also have enough diversity where users don’t get bored. There are some parks in small towns that don’t have diversity and are not being utilized as they were originally planned to be.
Lights would be awesome!!!
On an end note, there are a lot of people out there that specifically seek out towns with skateparks to go stay in or hang out in for the day if it is popular and different. It would be just one more thing to bring business.