Meeting the need: successful skatepark designs start with knowing what users will want down the line

Parks & Recreation, June, 2003 by Carol Newman

What makes a terrible skatepark?

This improbable question may be the best first question for a local planner to ask. The world of skatepark design can be a contentious and confusing one, and it may be best to know first what to avoid.

It's nearly always the case that the city officials and community leaders charged with the responsibility of managing a skatepark project will know little or nothing about skateparks; in fact, the inner truth of skatepark wisdom will always elude the outsider. A park that ultimately fails to meet the needs of the community will invariably be one that's designed and built by well-intentioned non-skaters. While grassroots organizing and fundraising by local youth, involved parents, local businesses and developers provide the heart and soul of a healthy skatepark, the best way to ensure your success is to involve weathered, mature, seasoned skaters in the design and construction of your project from beginning to end.

Community involvement will provide the assurance that your park will be a valued resource--one that's wished for, dreamed of, worked for and cared for--but it's not necessarily the best source for design ideas. There are two essential elements for a great skatepark that are largely unknowable even to local skating youth: How will the park be used, and what will they want in the future?

After all, the proficiency of local skaters will skyrocket if they're given a park that can accommodate their growth in skill. Skaters who have only had access to parking lots, plazas and city streets can't necessarily envision what will satisfy their nearly limitless potential for skill development. According to Tom Miller, of Skaters for Portland Skateparks, "a cost-effective, long-lasting facility that keeps locals excited about their skatepark for years to come requires design oversight from experts." Miller adds, "Youth input is essential, but ultimately, wisdom and foresight earned through decades of skateboarding experience is needed."

Young skaters also can't anticipate the complexities of multiple users of multiple skill levels, and the potential lines and flow of a skatepark. Understanding those skating nuances is essential to produce a safe, stimulating, satisfying park. Seasoned skaters with decades on their boards on all environments have the necessary expertise, and can help park planners avoid the design mistakes that will result in a facility that ultimately disappoints its users and the community. Making sure that skating pros are involved throughout the design and building process is the surest key to a successful park design.

How Big? How Many?

Many communities have suffered from underestimating the demand for skateparks. Unlike most other types of neighborhood park facilities, such as playing fields and tennis courts, a well-designed skatepark will attract skaters throughout the region and beyond, both as a result of great design and a largely unmet demand for adequate facilities. Successful skateparks earn a reputation that skaters will routinely travel distances to use. Steve Rose, of Purkiss-Rose, Landscape Architecture, Recreation and Park Planning, recommends that communities plan based on population and anticipate a need for a system of skateparks of adequate size, each serving roughly areas of 30,000 to 40,000 people. Municipal authorities and park planners are well-advised to think in terms of meeting regional needs with a comprehensive plan.

Most professional park planners recommend that an in-ground concrete skatepark be a minimum of 10,000 to 15,000 square feet. While this is a good rule of thumb, park size can be misleading. Tiny parks such as Donald, Ore.'s 2,500-square-foot facility, designed by Dreamland Skateparks, draws skaters from all over the world; meanwhile, enormous facilities, such as the 91,000-square-foot park in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, can fall short of expectations. Size largely comes down to design. A successful design can be achieved even with a limited budget that's too small for a large park.

Who Will Use Your Skatepark?

It may be challenging, but not impossible, for a well-designed skatepark to satisfy skateboarders, inline skaters and BMX bikers. It's best to decide in advance who will use the park. If the skatepark will accommodate BMX bikes, the design, construction and management plans must anticipate their use. BMX bikes are built with steel pegs on the axles to perform the tricks that characterize BMX-style riding. Skateboarders grind on aluminum axles. Skatepark coping will wear down the skateboard truck, but BMX pegs will damage ordinary concrete and coping surfaces in most skateparks.

Construction of the park should allow for the extra wear and tear these steel pegs create, and this will necessarily increase the costs of building the park. Kent Dahlgren, of Dreamland Skateparks, believes the best results can be achieved by building with BMX use in mind, and then posting scheduling plans to prevent the commingling of bikes with other users during peak hours for safety. This type of planning can create parks that are more inclusive and less divisive for communities whose resources are limited.