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Council pauses skate-park construction, asks for higher-quality design options and budget tradeoffs
Summary
Council directed staff to re-engage the selected designer (SPA Skateparks) to present additional, costed skate-park design options—addressing feature depth, shade, seating and BMX/multiuse elements—rather than immediately proceed with construction under the current design and budget.
Council members on Oct. 15 paused immediate construction of the planned Greg Clark Park skate park and asked staff to return with alternative design options, cost estimates and funding tradeoffs.
Staff described the site and original design: a roughly 9,000-square-foot skate park (just under a quarter-acre) with an allocated skate budget of $1,000,000 within a $2,000,000 total park match. The design contract with SPA Skateparks provided completed construction documents and initial grading/demolition work had occurred earlier in 2023.
Several councilmembers and public commenters urged deeper "swells," improved staging, shade, seating, bathroom/water access and multiuse features that could also serve BMX and other wheeled users. Some members worried the current design did not meet the community—s desired "top-tier" standard and feared repeating past outcomes where budget-driven design led to subpar results.
Council asked staff to (1) return to SPA Skateparks with council feedback and request alternative design options at multiple budget levels that address swells, shade and multiuse functionality; (2) provide a clear accounting of all Greg Clark Park funding sources across city and county bond allocations and the broader parks CIP so council can consider tradeoffs; and (3) show what changes in scope and amenity would cost and how they would affect other projects. Staff confirmed sunk costs (grading/demolition) and recommended returning with options rather than issuing a new RFQ.
What happens next: staff will reengage SPA and the parks board, produce multiple costed alternatives, and present funding scenarios and opportunity costs so council can decide whether to expand the skate-park budget or proceed with the current design.
