SOLANA BEACH — Plans for the city’s first skate park ramped up March 22 when council members unanimously approved a not-to-exceed $91,000 agreement with Van Dyke Landscape Architects for the project design.
It is the same company that created the 2010 preliminary plans for a sweeping redevelopment of La Colonia Park and Community Center, where the skate park will be located.
That project, which included a skate park, is on hold pending sufficient funding. A Veterans Honor Courtyard was completed early last year, separately from the overall improvements, in response to a community request to do so.
The skate park is moving forward independently for the same reason.
Carlsbad-based SITE Design Group Inc., which designed the skate park for the La Colonia renovation, will also be involved.
SITE Design has developed skate parks nationally and locally, including ones at Camp Pendleton and the Magdalena YMCA in Encinitas.
“This team is well-qualified,” City Manager Greg Wade said.
Linda Swindell, a Parks and Recreation commissioner who has led the fundraising efforts for the project, agreed.
“I’m glad to hear that SITE Design is involved,” she said. “It’s good to see that we’ve got such a solid company working along with us on this project. I think that will be really helpful when we do workshops.”
Swindell said SITE Design’s involvement will also help meet some of the requirements of the Tony Hawk Foundation, which donated funds for the project.
The scope of work will also include planning and designing the basketball court, which will be relocated adjacent to the skate park, walkways surrounding the skate area, pedestrian-scale lighting, seating walls and a slight encroachment into the existing soccer field.
Additionally, the process will include two community outreach efforts to garner public input to ensure the design is “updated to reflect current skating trends … things that may have changed in the intervening years,” Wade said.
“It’s sort of an evolving sport so we want to make sure that the skate park is state-of-the-art and meets … current needs,” he added.
“Those workshops will be really important to get a great design and get everybody involved,” Swindell said.
The first workshop could be held within the next month, and the second one about six weeks after that. They will likely be at La Colonia Park on a Saturday and could include a fundraiser.
If all goes as planned, a groundbreaking ceremony could take place by the end of the year. The city has budgeted $300,000 for the project.
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Thanks to all those who have supported our community in this effort. It’s more than a Skatepark it is continualy building a great community!
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