The current skatepark in Wenatchee is not
working for the area. Better skateparks in the
Valley will engage the broader community in
ways that this one cannot.

The area is rural with a heavy reliance on agriculture, mostly fruit. It’s known as the Apple Capital of the World. Because Wenatchee is the largest town for hours in any direction there is some tension cultural tension between the generation that knows the area to be rural and the younger residents that desire more urban amenities. Skateboarding is at ground zero of this conflict.

Wenatchee is split down the middle by the Columbia River. The east side of town is called East Wenatchee, is in a completely different county, and has its own City government even though people routinely go to either side of the river daily for a variety of reasons. A typical kid might go to a park in Wenatchee even though he or she lived in East Wenatchee, for example. For recreational planning purposes the larger Wenatchee area could be considered as a whole although twice the number of agencies and decision-makers could potentially be involved with any consideration.

In 1997 Wenatchee built its first skatepark using a community design and built with Public Works oversight and prisoner labor.

Although the Wenatchee skatepark is well used, it has no shortage of design and construction flaws. For lack of other options, the park is still used regularly to this day by the locals.

A series of plans by the City indicated that the existing park would need to be demolished. At first there were no immediate plans to replace it though the City stated that the skatepark would be replaced at some point in the future at a different location within the park.

When Wenatchee resident Mike Leeds saw his sons begin getting interested in skateboarding it stirred memories of his own youth. While visiting Wenatchee’s skatepark he saw first-hand what the issues were. The biggest challenge for Pioneer Skatepark was that it was the only public skateboarding facility within 20 miles. For an area with nearly 100,000 citizens—and by national standards around 4,600 skateboarders—it resulted in an overused and crowded space that wasn’t designed for the amount of activity it attracted.

In 2005 Leeds investigated what had been done previously. He learned that the original skatepark was built under some naïve ideas about the required quality. Through this review he learned that a local skateshop owner, Joey McGuire, and previously contacted the City about the condition of the skatepark and had offered to donate some ramps that could be installed next to the park to help support the quantity of users and draw a more diverse group. The City declined that offer. Through this, Leeds learned that the Wenatchee Valley leadership might not be immediately open to his ideas. He anticipated a struggle simply to have the skatepark issues taken seriously and considered by the City officials.

Pillar Design has just launched its new design blog. Skaters for Public Skateparks wouldn't ordinarily promote a commercial enterprise like this but the ideas being presented are so good it is worth sharing. Pillar Design has been a champion of progressive skate spaces for years so their take on what makes a great skatepark is definitely worth reading. Go take a look and leave a comment. It's worth the time.

skatepark-blog.com