Flyers were posted at the Fuller’s Twin City Skate Park in Centralia this week calling on skateboarders and others who use the complex at Rotary Riverside Park to come to a Wednesday evening open house to discuss the future of the recreational attraction.
Skaters and their families answered the call.
City officials opened the doors to Fort Borst Park Kitchen Shelter 2 just before 5:30 p.m. for what was billed as the “Skaters Open House.” Organizers set up sign-in sheets and a series of posters with renderings of different models and designs of skate ramps and other park features.
Community members of all ages attended the meeting and shared their connections to the park while outlining ideas and preferences for what a remodeled version of the Fuller’s Twin City Skate Park would look like.
The meeting was the second recent community gathering after city officials held a first, more casual meeting at the park itself in October last year.
The Wednesday meeting attracted more community members than the previous gathering. Many who attended shared hopes that the city can help bring back the glory days of a skate park that was influential to many local childhoods but has taken a slide into disrepair in recent years.
“I've been skating at this skate park since the day it was built, actually, 2004 or 2005, when they first started putting ramps in there. And yeah, I was probably 10 or 11 in that area,” Jake Lloyd said during the open house. “As a 31-year-old man, a father of a 5-year-old, I could want nothing more than for my child to be able to experience the wonderful process of going out and being with your friends and doing something that's healthy, physically and mentally.”
Centralia Deputy City Manager Amy Buckler led the event with help from Parks and Buildings Manager Kyle Markstrom. Other city staff and elected officials also showed up in support, including Centralia City Manager Michael Thomas and two Centralia City Councilors, Chris Brewer and Kevin Curtis.
The two young people — Alyssa Webster and Christian Schloss — who recently put together a petition that kickstarted the new effort to revitalize the skate park also helped. The two guided attendees through the possible designs and prompted others to share their feedback with city officials.
Many attending were clearly excited during the meeting and mentioned their hopes that the park could be a more reliable place to skate with the proposed improvements. Many skaters still use the Twin City Skate Park, but will also frequently travel to other parks for facilities that are in better condition.
During the event, people used sticky tabs and notes to mark the features they most want included in the skate park. Favorites included a feature called a mini ramp, which resembles a smaller version of a traditional half pipe. One member advocated for the inclusion of more “street features,” which include rails and small boxes and other flat platforms that can be used for tricks but aren’t necessarily doable on ramps.
The city also asked attendees to weigh in on some other decisions and throw out new ideas. The city is currently debating between two types of skate ramp material. Both rely on galvanized steel frames. One version also uses galvanized steel with a special coating for the ramps themselves while the other uses a synthetic material for the ramps. The city is also considering the importance of including a pump track feature.
Pump tracks are continuous tracks with soft inclines, declines and raised turn embankments that allow skaters to move their bodies up and down to gather speed instead of pushing, much like pumping on a swing set. Pump tracks can be popular because they are considered beginner-friendly, but other features appear to be a higher priority.
“So a pump track would be good, but it all depends, though, on what the budget is and what's being put into the park,” Austin Hamilton said.
Many skaters said they’d prefer the city prioritize other features, like a beginner-friendly half pipe, adding that both Olympia and Tenino have good pumptracks for those looking for them.
“I agree that it’s important for beginners, but I don't think we really need one,” Zander Isenhower said. “I'd rather see more ramps or like, a small half pipe that everyone, all ages, can use.”
Many skaters also advocated for covering the park to allow for skating year-round or for making the larger investment in a concrete skate park. The city will now use all of the feedback to plan out a skate park design with the help of the American Skate Ramp Company. The city will try to include the most popular features, but according to Buckler, a concrete park or a full covering will be too expensive to be considered.
While the city will not be able to afford a full covering for the park, Bucker did say that the city would look into a smaller covering for a single popular feature. Some people at the meeting said they would like to see the covering over some sort of halfpipe for year-round use.
“What we'll do now is take the most popular features and work with our designer to build a new layout that has flow,” Buckler said.
According to Buckler, after developing a concept design, the city will apply for a Washington state Recreation and Conservation Office Youth Athletic Facilities Grant, which will be due this April.
According to the department's website, an application submitted in April would be decided on and added to a ranked priority list in October, which would decide the likelihood that the project would receive grant money. A small grant could award as much as $350,000 and would also require the local community to match funds up to a certain percentage.
