Rendering of the proposed Sunnyside Skate Park
According to City’s planning department, if permits are issued as expected, construction of City’s first Skate Park should begin next month. Construction is anticipated to take 60 days.
The City’s planning department published the final design late last week to its website.
The skate spot will be built within the confines of Sunnyside Park on Rhode Island Avenue just north of Edgewood Road.
Back in March this year, the City Council approved the design of College Park’s first skate park.
On Mar 22, 2010, the City awarded Seattle-based Grindline Skateparks (http://www.grindline.com/) a contract to design and build a skateboard park in Sunnyside Neighborhood Park in north College Park
The City held two public hearings on the park, one in April and another in June last year.
In October last year, the park’s design went through a few major revisions, after receiving concerns from M-NCPPC and some residents on children’s safety in the proposed park.
According to the new design, the park’s bowl is much shallower (four feet) compared to the previous one, which was more more than seven feet deep. The new design is expected to attract more beginning skaters and would be more safe for the community and easier to maintain. There are also an addition of a stair element to the new design.
M-NCPPC continues to have concems about maintenance and has requested that the City provide assistance. The City Manager and Public Works Director indicated that supplemental maintenance could be provided as part of the City’s routine park maintenance program.
Speaking of the park, Kennis Termini, a long time resident of north College Park, and a member of the park design committee, said: “I look to the Sunnyside Skate Park as being a positive outreach to our youth community that is local, safe and widely supported.”