Greenwood’s skatepark will get a long overdue facelift starting this spring.
Northeast Skatepark, which is about 25 years old, is set to be fully renovated by the beginning of the summer. An upgrade was long overdue, as the equipment is out of date and rundown, said Rob Taggart, Greenwood parks and recreation director.
The Greenwood Parks and Recreation Department finalized plans for the more than $280,000 revamp of the entire park, which will be funded by a Community Development Block Grant. When the park redesign began last year, the parks department originally planned to complete it by last summer, but it took time to finish the design and get the grant, Taggart said.
Bloomington-based Hunger Skateparks designed and will build the new park, which will involve tearing out all of the old equipment and starting anew.
The issue with the park is not only the age of the equipment, but also the design of most of it. Equipment is mounted on asphalt surfaces with no built-in ramps.
“The existing skatepark was just our repurposed tennis court,” Taggart said. “It has mounted ramps and it’s on asphalt. These are all things I’ve learned are not ideal in the skating world.”
Taggart learned quickly Greenwood has an active and dedicated skating community, he said. When the idea came about last year, the city sought community input, asking for design ideas and holding public meetings where the community could share those ideas.
“That community has been absolutely fantastic to work with, and we are excited to get things up off the ground,” Taggart said. “This is a skatepark designed by the community.”
Some key changes to the skatepark will include a concrete surface instead of asphalt, and several new, bigger ramps contoured into the concrete, along with stairs and railings for users to skate and perform tricks.
And from the virtual community workshops, the design was updated to include mini quarter pipes, bowl pockets with jumps, various stair combo sets, a China bank with a manual and more.
Construction of the 7,800-square-foot park, 100 Crestview Drive, will begin in the coming weeks.
