Video: Roxhill Skatespot ‘basic street plaza’ design draft shown

(Click for full-size view, as a PDF – upper right of rendering is 29th/Barton)
Back in August, the first community design meeting for the soon-to-be-built Roxhill Park Skatespot included discussion of the adjacent playground renovations (WSB coverage here). And when the final design plan is presented next month, the two projects will share the stage again. But last night at Southwest Library, the “schematic” (draft) design that California Skateparks has come up with for West Seattle’s second skatepark was alone in the spotlight.

CS’s lead designer Colby Carter explained the design as a “basic street plaza,” albeit one with more transitional elements than his company usually builds. A lively discussion followed, including specific critiques from youth and adult skaters who were in attendance, as you’ll see in our video:

A couple quick points in case you couldn’t watch the video: Carter said that while there’s still “flexibility” to tweak this design, the “major breakthrough” came in fitting the concept onto the challenging site, because of its size, grades, and trees (5 will go, 18 will be planted, said Seattle ParksShwu-jen Hwang), not to mention the budget. Still no lights, Parks’ project manager Kelly Davidson reiterated; she says there’s just no money in the budget for them. (Lights had been a request at the August meeting, along with perhaps a bowl feature; that’s not in the schematic design, either, but there are multiple bowls at the open-a-month-now Delridge Skatepark.)

Among those on hand was Matthew Lee Johnston of the city’s all-volunteer Skatepark Advisory Committee, which has reviewed the project with California Skateparks since the August community meeting, and he thanked Carter for taking into account feedback they had provided. SPAC had concerns earlier about the project, having not been kept in the loop when donations from the Rob Dyrdek Foundation were announced for the project while that skating star was in town last May (WSB coverage here), which led to a “no-cost” design contract with California Skateparks.

Next step: The final design is due to be unveiled November 14th, 6 pm, Southwest Library, along with the final playground design – though that project gets its own “schematic design” unveiling at the library next week, 6 pm Monday (October 17th). And there’s still time to take a look at the design and tell Parks what you think, if you weren’t there last night – check the project’s official city page for info on how to send in your comment(s).

7 Replies to "Video: Roxhill Skatespot 'basic street plaza' design draft shown"

  • jay October 13, 2011 (9:56 am)

    This isn’t related to Roxhill but on the topic of WS skateparks, does anybody know why the egg bowl at Delridge is fenced off? I think the fences just showed up yesterday.

    • WSB October 13, 2011 (10:10 am)

      Jay – I will ask Parks – TR

  • JD October 13, 2011 (10:19 am)

    Jay – My sarcastic bet is some parent thought some kid would get hurt and threatened to sue.

    Although I really hope that is not the case

    • WSB October 13, 2011 (10:25 am)

      Well, JD, you’re on the right track. From Kelly Davidson, who also was project manager for Delridge:
      >>Parks is having a two level rail put around 50% of the egg bowl since safety issues were raised about toddlers from the wading pool wandering over or pedestrians cutting the corner at night. There was concern either would fall into the deep end. I thought the construction fence would be up for a one day install and then just yellow tape and signs on the rail, but the contractor is keeping the fence until tomorrow so the posts can cure. <<
      .
      This concern came up going back to design meetings, I seem to recall … TR

  • J October 13, 2011 (12:15 pm)

    WSB, thanks for posting this. While I don’t skate, it was good to see all the community love and dedication from the guys that do. They are advocates for our whole neighborhood, and it’s nice to see Roxhill is getting some much needed attention. Thanks to the designers for being open to the suggestions too!

  • MLJ October 13, 2011 (5:25 pm)

    The main feedback that I was thanking them for taking into account was to make the park primarily aimed at street skating, and this design reflects that. Unfortunately we now have many other concerns that we are working with Parks to address, many of which are expressed by the folks in this video and at the meeting.
    .
    California Skateparks has a long way to go before they’ve got a design that meets the needs of West Seattle skaters.
    .
    More commentary and a place to leave your feedback here: http://seattleskateparks.org/?p=1356

  • Daniel Rhodes October 16, 2011 (8:29 pm)

    You guys need to make a skatepark at the whale tale park on Alki cause there is a ton of skaters

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