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Resident urges pump track instead of costly skate park at Philomath advisory meeting
Summary
At the June 2 Philomath Park Advisory Board meeting, Elizabeth “Izzy” Elliott urged the board to favor a lower-cost pump track for small children and scooters over the previously proposed skate park, citing past cost and maintenance problems and pointing to about $200,000 identified for park projects in 2018.
Elizabeth “Izzy” Elliott told the Philomath Park Advisory Board on June 2 that the city should prioritize a pump track — a simpler, lower-cost course for small bikes and scooters — rather than a full skate park.
“I’m Elizabeth Elliott. They call me Izzy. I’m a senior citizen,” Elliott said during public comment, adding that she and others who pushed for a skate park years ago gave up when estimates ballooned. “Think pump track. Think easier. Think less money.”
Elliott said a pump track would serve families and very young riders — “scooters and tikes” — and be easier to maintain and afford than a grind-style skate park. She also told the board that in 2018 some funds (which she identified as SDC funds) had been earmarked for park projects, saying “the tennis courts were given a $200,000 gift,” and urged the board to consider what could be done within a more modest budget.
Board members and staff told new members the pump-track idea and a skate-park feasibility study already exist in the city’s park master plan and that costs have risen substantially since 2018. Staff said they can bring the existing design and feasibility findings back to the advisory board for a future meeting so members can evaluate lower-cost options.
The board scheduled a future meeting in August to revisit the skate-park/pump-track materials and to hear from the chamber director on related community events. No formal action or vote was recorded at the June 2 meeting on the matter.
The board invited Elliott to leave historical documents for the park archive and thanked her for the suggestion.
