Decades after it was envisioned, a skateboard park in the city of Snoqualmie could finally be completed by the end of this summer.
The city sent out a call for construction bids in April, marking one of the final steps in the creation of a 7,500-square-foot skate park within the Snoqualmie Community Park. The park has been in the city’s capital improvement plan since 2007, but parks superintendent Larry White says the idea of creating a skate park has been on the city’s to-do list since the community park was created around 20 years ago.
“It’s a really cool project, I think the community is ready for it to happen,” White said.
Snoqualmie city engineers estimated the project will cost around $462,000. White said he’s hopeful they will receive bids within that amount. The majority of the money that has been allocated to the project came from state and county funding, including $175,000 from the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Grant secured by Sen. Mark Mullet and $176,000 that King County council member Kathy Lambert directed to the project from interest returned on bonds used to build the Kingdome. Additional funding came from a mixture of smaller grants and private donations.
The skate park will be located to the south of an existing basketball court at the park and will be next to the YMCA and community center building. White said the location was met with approval from the Snoqualmie Police Department since it is close to a road and visible from the YMCA.
If a bid is selected, White expects construction to begin in early summer and end within three to six months. Ideally, the skate park will be completed by the time school returns to session following summer vacation.
“We’d like to get construction going right as school gets out,” White said.
The community has been involved in drafting the skate park plan, including during a public meeting last fall where around 30 people showed up. A former group called the Snoqualmie Skate Park Collective, comprised of youths who worked at the YMCA, suggested many features of the skate park, which were adopted by the city. The skate park will include a bowl, rails, stairs and ramps.
“It was a real collaboration of a lot of people to make this thing come together,” White said.
City documents concerning the park said it will provide a place for skaters and kids to hang out and get exercise in a safe environment. The average age of a skateboarder is between 12 and 17 years old and more than 90 percent of skateboard deaths occur outside skate parks with many involving vehicles.
The park will also provide skaters an alternative to the sidewalks and roads in Snoqualmie’s business district, where they have been known to congregate, White said. Additionally, Snoqualmie skaters will not have to leave the city to use nearby parks in North Bend, Issaquah or Sammamish.
