Supporters and skateboard enthusiasts once again are urging the Issaquah City Council to move forward with a large-footprint skate park in Tibbetts Valley Park.
Supporters made their thoughts known at a council meeting in late January.
The larger footprint is the minimum backers would like to see, said park supporter Jerry Blackburn, an active member of the Drug Free Community Coalition and a member of the chemical dependency faculty at Bellevue College.
“That’s the most advantageous plan,” Blackburn said of the more roomy skate park backers envision.
Construction on the park is slated to start sometime this year, after the city approves a final design, Brian Berntsen, deputy director of Issaquah Parks & Recreation, said in an email.
During its most recent budget talks, the council approved $350,000 for the park, Berntsen added. Staff had requested an additional $150,000 to build the design preferred by some residents and public park supporters. Though he did not give any timetable, Berntsen said park construction could begin at the $350,000 funding level.
“This funding will enable us to start construction on a skate park with a smaller footprint and many amenities of the public preferred design,” he said.
The city may end up building the park in phases, said Councilman Joshua Schaer, an approach allowing the work to begin soon, but ultimately resulting in the larger park envisioned by supporters.
Schaer admitted he was not a fan of the way the city initially moved forward with the park design. According to Schaer, design work was awarded and begun with no clear price tag attached to the project.
“I did not support moving forward with a blank check,” he said.
The existing 5,600-square-foot park, built in 1997, has been criticized as no longer up to snuff for skaters. The isolated location behind the Issaquah Community Center also has caused safety concerns.
Blackburn said the openness of the new location near the Issaquah Transit Center is one of its biggest advantages. Still, he very much would like the city to get behind ideas such as a viewing area, mostly for parents, which he said only would add to the safety of the new site.
Blackburn added the Drug Free Coalition is backing the skate park for what he hopes are obvious reasons, such as giving younger residents a place to go and be safe and be active.
“We want to give them the healthiest options possible,” he said. “It’s what the kids deserve and I love thinking about it like that.”