A recent Change.org petition is calling on the City of Centralia to take action to improve and restore Fuller’s Twin City Skate Park located at Rotary Riverside Park.
Petitioners, along with 354 signees as of Thursday afternoon, agree that the skate park has become worn down, unwelcoming and unsafe over time. The 44,000-square-foot skate park opened in 2004 and was renovated in 2015.
According to the petition, started by Alyssa Webster and signed “Twin City Youth,” many features of the park are broken, warped or missing altogether. For example, petitioners say the few remaining ramps are not designed for skating, are poorly placed, mismatched and are too tall to skate properly, which can make them dangerous for beginners. Petitioners also wrote that a clean, safe and updated park will provide a positive outlet for athletics and activity, a safe space for youth to gather — especially those with no other safe spaces — and community pride in a multi-use public space.
“We’re not just asking for change; we’re asking for our voices to be heard,” the petition reads. “The Centralia skate scene is growing and changing rapidly, and we need your support to help us grow and gain recognition.”
Amy Buckler, Centralia deputy city manager and parks director, agreed with the petition’s goals of repairing surface damage to ramps and rails, removing unsafe features, and restoring features specifically designed for skateboarding. She told the city council during a Sept. 9 workshop that the skate park is “reaching the end of its useful life” and that the city is looking at Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) grants to fund renovations.
“We do maintain the ramps, but what we really need is full replacement. There’s what they call a skatelite surface on there that gets really cracked,” Buckler said. “We can keep replacing that, and it’s going to keep happening and cracking because the real problem is the foundation, the structure underneath. The wood that we have also replaced has rotted out, and then there’s this underlayment in between the two that we can’t get on the market anymore. Every time we try to repair it, it’s never a perfect repair.”
Buckler said the city would conduct an assessment within the next week to evaluate if there are aspects of the skate park that need to be closed down. Her next step was to get in contact with the petitioner and schedule a meeting with her and the city council. She said another move would be to develop a concept plan that could be “plugged into a grant,” as RCO grants are coming up next spring and only are available every other year.
Councilor Max Vogt suggested that the project could be funded through public financing through donations like GoFundMe.
“Families would do that and kids could have bake sales. It seems like there could be an ask to the community — let’s all get together and do this,” Vogt said. “Because with the city’s limited budget and taxes and all that kind of stuff, that might be something we could easily do.”
Buckler said the Centralia Rotary Club and the Kraken Boardshop have expressed interest in fundraising and that the city would be interested in partnering with other organizations or individuals that are willing to donate to the cause.
“I’m eager to hear from the youth and let them know that we’re listening,” Buckler said.
The petition can be accessed at https://tinyurl.com/w6rr3etu.
