Ottawa skateboarders present case for a new skate park

The skate park at 325 W. Jackson St. in Ottawa has been in a state of disrepair for years, with paint peeling off the metal ramps and the noisiness drawing complaints from the neighbors ever since it was built in 2000.

Ottawa skateboarders and their families shared a case Thursday for a new skate park with the Playground and Recreation Board. The sport has grown in popularity since Ottawa’s park was built, skateboarding was made an Olympic sport in 2020.

Dick Chavez, who is spearheading the push for a new park, said a modern day skate park is vastly different from what Ottawa has.

“At the time the park was built, not a lot of places had skate parks,” Chavez said. “Ottawa was one of the few places that had a public skate park.”

Chavez said communities such as Sandwich and Oregon have state-of-the-art, concrete skate parks that fit the modern needs for skaters.

“It may seem like there’s not a need because people aren’t using it but I think it’s a case of there being better places to go,” Chavez said. “It’s just kind of sitting there dying.”

That’s because, Chavez said, there are broken bottles and trash in the park. The ramps are in need of repairs and a fresh coat of paint. More than that, though, they’re made of metal. Skateboarding has moved past metal ramps since concrete is typically safer and lasts much longer.

Chavez said he takes his family elsewhere to other towns that have concrete skate parks in lieu of using Ottawa’s for these reasons.

Commissioner Wayne Eichelkraut, who isn’t on the Playground and Recreation Board, but attended the meeting since Chavez spoke briefly Tuesday to the City Council to let them know he’d be sharing information, said the skate park in Ottawa was state-of-the-art at the time it was put in but he agrees the one now is obsolete.

“It actually lasted longer than I thought it would but we’ve done some work on it,” Eichelkraut said. “But this is the way to start, and I mean that. You came to the board just like the kids came to us back then, and it worked out well back then.”

Chavez came to the meeting having done research on grants from places, such as Skatepark Project, and brought that information to the board.

“There are a lot of sponsors and fundraising and grants to go into this kind of stuff,” Chavez said. “I’m not asking the city to build us a whole new skate park. I realize that’s kind of crazy but I do think I wanted some people from the city to meet with us to make a plan.”

Chavez said modern day parks are made of concrete and they aren’t necessarily centrally located in cities. Instead, they’re usually around parks and in places where a city would usually put a baseball or football field.

Eichelkraut said ideally the skate park would be built through a grant like the Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development Grant to go along with another grant to cover most of the costs. There also is a grant available through the Skatepark Project, which would require the city to raise 1/3 of the goal before it can apply. That grant tops out at $300,000.

As for a location, Board President Alex Spencer threw out Walsh Park on Bellevue Avenue as a good location that’s already on the board’s radar for an update.

While Spencer was at first concerned it’s too far out of the way, Chavez and the other families were amicable to Walsh Park as a location.

Members of the City Council and the Playground and Recreation Board will be meeting to learn what needs there are to make a new skate park in Ottawa happen.