One of the skatepark designs proposed at the May community meeting.The final design meeting for the Jefferson Park Skatepark is next Wednesday, July 14, at the Jefferson Community Center, 3801 Beacon Avenue South. Beacon Mountain Play Area and Jefferson Park Playfield will be discussed from 6:00 to 6:40 pm, then from 6:45 to 8:00 the final schematic design for the skatepark will be presented. Here is a flyer with more information. Meeting notes and concepts from the April and May community meetings may be downloaded here. The project is currently planned to be advertised for bid in early 2011 and completed in late summer of the same year.
23 thoughts on “Jefferson Park skatepark schematic to be presented at 7/14 meeting”
Why is a Skatepark Being Built on Beacon Hill?
Why is a skatepark being built on Beacon Hill? By now, it is a foregone conclusion. However, I do not think this is a good fit for Beacon Hill at all.
I also raised these same concerns when I served on the Jefferson Park planning committee (briefly) about ten years ago, and opposed the park. There really is no skateboarding or skateboard culture on Beacon Hill at all. And skateboarding is not something that the youth on Beacon Hill partake it, for various reasons — but primarily cultural. Would you build something like this in South Park?
This just seems to be something imposed on Beacon Hill from the outside, and done for the sake of appearing to do something for the youth.
I’m curious what data you have to support the assertion that there’s no skateboarding culture on Beacon Hill. Anecdotally, but it seems to me that in the past few years skateboarding has really taken root in the south end. I don’t see it so much on the Hill itself, but spend any time around Franklin High School and you might be surprised by the demographics of the skaters you see. Maybe those kids don’t live on Beacon Hill, but this is a city park, not a private park.
Also keep in mind that in the past ten years the skate park at Seattle Center has gone away, and this will help fill that void. I don’t think the logic of that location was that a large number of skaters living on Lower Queen Anne.
Norm you couldn’t be more misinformed. Skateboarders are everywhere and cannot be stereotyped. To say it’s cultural just seems like passive aggressive racism. Skateboarding is not something the youth take part in on Beacon Hill – really? I’ve seen plenty of kids with skateboards on beacon hill. Maybe you don’t see them in mass because THEY DON”T HAVE ANYWHERE TO LEGALLY SKATEBOARD on beacon hill.
Now to address my favorite line “Would you build something like this in South Park?” Sorry Norm, but grounds already been broken on the South Park skate park:
I think it’s great for skateboarders to have cool venues for their sport. But is it true that $1 million in public funds have been dedicated to this? That seems astonishingly expensive for a space that caters to such a small segment of the population. Seems like there could be better uses for the $$$, especially right now….
Norm it sounds like you don’t live on Beacon Hill. I am a skateboarder who does lives on Beacon Hill. I don’t skate there because there’s no place for me to ride banked and transitional terrain. I have to leave my neighborhood to practice my preferred method of exercise. You should take a drive by bennefit park sometime, there are many skateboarders who use the level smooth asphalt to set up thier portable rails. They practice their boardslides and ollies almost daily. The problem is they use the basketball courts. Often there are folks playing basketball there and they have to wait until the game is over. Imagine how excited these young people would be if they had a dedicated areas to skate in. Trust me sir, there are indeed skateboarders on Beacon Hill. They will be skating regardless of whether or not there is a dedicated place for them to do so. It would seem much wiser to provide a dedicated site for them to do so rather than to have them skating in areas where their presence intrudes on others.
Yeah ok, sorry for being misinformed.
I have young kids (age 4 and 7)..if they take an interest in skateboarding, this will be great.
Some of the people commenting here would do well to inform themselves before bashing the skatepark simply because they belong to a segment of the population that doesn’t skate… If you went to the Jefferson Park skatepark meetings you would have seen that the support covers a wide socio-economic and cultural spectrum.
And Jay, you could spend one million by giving youth a positive, healthy and creative way to funnel their energy for generations to come, or you could do nothing and have youth funnel their energy in less positive ways… I’d rather spend money to have a skatepark than on another squad car, juvenile detention center, etc.
I am so looking forward to this park!
Thanks Stefan. I think there’s other alternatives to spending the $1 million that would be both positive and reach a wider swath of the population. More bike trails, nature trails through the the Cheasty greenbelt, and reading programs all come to mind. These are things that would be accessible to a much larger number of kids than those who are interested in skating.
I’m totally in favor of the skatepark, I just wish it could be built using private funds raised from those who are invested in the sport. A good example is how the rock climbing community is raising money to buy up the Index lower town wall and save it from development; we’re a niche sport and I think it’s appropriate that we raise our own money vs. asking for taxpayer handouts.
You could turn this around and ask why so much of our park is dedicated to golf, which surely has much fewer participants (among the younger generation, at least) than skateboarding. Seattle has devoted a ton of park space and resources to a sport that has relatively limited participation. There seems to be nothing wrong with also devoting some resources to an activity such as skateboarding (and don’t forget, skateparks are also used by roller skaters) that is extremely popular and has been for several decades now.
For that matter, what about basketball courts, soccer fields, swimming pools…? Are they less “niche” than skateboarding? Maybe, but where do you draw the line?
This isn’t buying a privately-owned space like the Index wall, this is making use of space in an existing publicly-owned park. And parks should be built for all kinds of activities, not just trails through the green space. Soccer, skating, swimming, playground games, basketball, tennis, lawn bowling, whatever. It’s all good.
I’ll second Wendi and Stefan regarding the value of public money paying for skateparks, and refer those interested to the Parks Dept Webpage below:
The decision to put public money into skateparks was not taken lightly, it was studied. The Parks Dept responded to what the public wanted to do in their parks.
Further, money was specifically allocated for skateparks in the Parks Levy of 2009, that the citizens of Seattle approved in a vote. In addition, private money has been granted to help fund the Jefferson Park Skatepark, I believe about $100k. Folks on BH and in South Seattle said they wanted and would use a skatepark.
I look forward to it opening.
Listen, I didn’t mean to piss off anybody. I’ve lived on Beacon Hill my entire life. I also used to be a professional driver for a few years and visited pretty much every neighborhood on a weekly basis during my delivery days. For the most part, I did not see much of a skateboarding community (people who skateboard) on Beacon Hill relative to other parts of the city. I didn’t know there were so many people who skate or support the park in the community. I just want to make sure that whatever was built in the neighborhood community would be used in some way by the community, particularly in traditionally underdeveloped south Seattle.
Thanks for your comments everybody. I really like that we’re starting to use this space for civil debate. Obviously, we share some philosophical differences about how taxpayer $$ should be used. I think Wendi raises really, really good questions about where you draw the line between which sports you support and which you don’t. As for me, I’d like to see a more progressive model where the city provides and maintains general-use parks, and then offers long-term (50-100 year?) leases on some plots in those parks to nonprofits, golf course operators etc. who want to use them for skate parks etc. The city/voters would still be able to select what goes where, thus protecting the parks against unsavory privatization, but t. I bet this would be far more efficient economically than the current system, but that’s just my 2 cents.
I support creating spaces on Beacon Hill that promote physical activity and youth engagement. The Beacon Hill Library is PACKED with kids and young people – the new and improved Jefferson Park and all of its ammenities and activities will provide another safe and healthy space here in our community for young people to hang out. That will mean a safer, healthier community for all of us!
I like the discussion we’re having, so, can you tell us what is so economically inefficient with the current system of allocating uses of park space in Seattle?
For that matter, are you suggesting that a skatepark in Jefferson Park will not be used, or will not be used as much as another type of park facility?
What is unsavory privitazation? The golf course and driving range are operated by a private company, using over half of all of that publicly owned property. Do they pay the city a fair rent? Do folks who live on BH prefer golf over other sports? Do people move to BH to take advatage of the golf course? Anecdotely, I don’t know anyone who golfs at Jefferson Park. I know lots of people who lawn bowl there. Does that mean anything? Probably not.
I find it hard to judge what facility or activity would get the most use at the new Jefferson Park, since its mostly been a resevoir and a golf course up until now. Also keep in mind that this is not a little neighbrhood park, its a regional park that should draw from a larger geographic area than Beacon Hill. Looking over the city-wide skate park plan, it makes sense to site a skate park at Jefferson Park.
BTW – the design posted above with the pipe is a bit misleading since it is not the one that is currently in the running. The pipe is gone… which, personally, I think is too bad since it would have been a nice signature feature. It would be the only skatepark in Seattle with a pipe – cool in the summer, dry in the rain, and a challenge for generations of skaters to come. So if you want it, or have an opinion about it, you can still pipe up (; here: http://forums.grindline.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=54
(guest password: jefferson2010).
future generations of asians will skate the hizzell outa the park.
nothin in seattle area is that far away from another so beacon hill is a great location for sk8 park.
the views the people kick ass.
lets just not make any objects unskateable like kelso step up,& port townsends east section.
who let kelso get designed like that?
already we sea lots of flat.
look at new ballard,too much flat.
give us a big ass bank to get speed to make it up the lil banks toconcrete picnic table,like kingston.rails blow!
how will we have enough speed to make it up those banks to skate a cone?or a desk?
So jealous we have nothing like that in St. Louis, our local skatepark is nice but nothing as professional or as large as this.
There are skateboarders everywhere on beacon hill its just that you don’t see them cause theres no where for them to skate. Plus putting a skater in southward is a horrible idea cause it will just get taken over by fake 13 Mexicans
Finally another skatepark, its about time that we the skaters of seattle get a new skate park. its a struggle some what to have to go all they way to seattle center or up north when you live near beacon hill.
I think it is a great idea. They said the same things when they built the skate park up in Sammamish. “They will deal drugs, nobody will use it…” Well, guess what? The place is packed with kids from sun up to sun down. I know kids that wake up at 6 in the morning on weekends so they can can skate there without the constant crowds. A teenager willingly waking up at 6am on a weekend! This is a great place for kids to get exercise and be social. Please do it for the kids. Trust me, you will be amazed at the popularity of a skate park. The thing I also like is that it takes up way less space than a ball field and gets way more use. It’s a win win.
stereotypes stereotypes stereotypes, all black people are gangsters, all pitbulls are killers, theres no skaters in the south end. norm your an ignorant faggot
Why is a Skatepark Being Built on Beacon Hill?
Why is a skatepark being built on Beacon Hill? By now, it is a foregone conclusion. However, I do not think this is a good fit for Beacon Hill at all.
I also raised these same concerns when I served on the Jefferson Park planning committee (briefly) about ten years ago, and opposed the park. There really is no skateboarding or skateboard culture on Beacon Hill at all. And skateboarding is not something that the youth on Beacon Hill partake it, for various reasons — but primarily cultural. Would you build something like this in South Park?
This just seems to be something imposed on Beacon Hill from the outside, and done for the sake of appearing to do something for the youth.
I’m curious what data you have to support the assertion that there’s no skateboarding culture on Beacon Hill. Anecdotally, but it seems to me that in the past few years skateboarding has really taken root in the south end. I don’t see it so much on the Hill itself, but spend any time around Franklin High School and you might be surprised by the demographics of the skaters you see. Maybe those kids don’t live on Beacon Hill, but this is a city park, not a private park.
Also keep in mind that in the past ten years the skate park at Seattle Center has gone away, and this will help fill that void. I don’t think the logic of that location was that a large number of skaters living on Lower Queen Anne.
Norm you couldn’t be more misinformed. Skateboarders are everywhere and cannot be stereotyped. To say it’s cultural just seems like passive aggressive racism. Skateboarding is not something the youth take part in on Beacon Hill – really? I’ve seen plenty of kids with skateboards on beacon hill. Maybe you don’t see them in mass because THEY DON”T HAVE ANYWHERE TO LEGALLY SKATEBOARD on beacon hill.
Now to address my favorite line “Would you build something like this in South Park?” Sorry Norm, but grounds already been broken on the South Park skate park:
http://seattleskateparks.org/?p=962
I think it’s great for skateboarders to have cool venues for their sport. But is it true that $1 million in public funds have been dedicated to this? That seems astonishingly expensive for a space that caters to such a small segment of the population. Seems like there could be better uses for the $$$, especially right now….
Norm it sounds like you don’t live on Beacon Hill. I am a skateboarder who does lives on Beacon Hill. I don’t skate there because there’s no place for me to ride banked and transitional terrain. I have to leave my neighborhood to practice my preferred method of exercise. You should take a drive by bennefit park sometime, there are many skateboarders who use the level smooth asphalt to set up thier portable rails. They practice their boardslides and ollies almost daily. The problem is they use the basketball courts. Often there are folks playing basketball there and they have to wait until the game is over. Imagine how excited these young people would be if they had a dedicated areas to skate in. Trust me sir, there are indeed skateboarders on Beacon Hill. They will be skating regardless of whether or not there is a dedicated place for them to do so. It would seem much wiser to provide a dedicated site for them to do so rather than to have them skating in areas where their presence intrudes on others.
Yeah ok, sorry for being misinformed.
I have young kids (age 4 and 7)..if they take an interest in skateboarding, this will be great.
Some of the people commenting here would do well to inform themselves before bashing the skatepark simply because they belong to a segment of the population that doesn’t skate… If you went to the Jefferson Park skatepark meetings you would have seen that the support covers a wide socio-economic and cultural spectrum.
And Jay, you could spend one million by giving youth a positive, healthy and creative way to funnel their energy for generations to come, or you could do nothing and have youth funnel their energy in less positive ways… I’d rather spend money to have a skatepark than on another squad car, juvenile detention center, etc.
I am so looking forward to this park!
Thanks Stefan. I think there’s other alternatives to spending the $1 million that would be both positive and reach a wider swath of the population. More bike trails, nature trails through the the Cheasty greenbelt, and reading programs all come to mind. These are things that would be accessible to a much larger number of kids than those who are interested in skating.
I’m totally in favor of the skatepark, I just wish it could be built using private funds raised from those who are invested in the sport. A good example is how the rock climbing community is raising money to buy up the Index lower town wall and save it from development; we’re a niche sport and I think it’s appropriate that we raise our own money vs. asking for taxpayer handouts.
You could turn this around and ask why so much of our park is dedicated to golf, which surely has much fewer participants (among the younger generation, at least) than skateboarding. Seattle has devoted a ton of park space and resources to a sport that has relatively limited participation. There seems to be nothing wrong with also devoting some resources to an activity such as skateboarding (and don’t forget, skateparks are also used by roller skaters) that is extremely popular and has been for several decades now.
For that matter, what about basketball courts, soccer fields, swimming pools…? Are they less “niche” than skateboarding? Maybe, but where do you draw the line?
This isn’t buying a privately-owned space like the Index wall, this is making use of space in an existing publicly-owned park. And parks should be built for all kinds of activities, not just trails through the green space. Soccer, skating, swimming, playground games, basketball, tennis, lawn bowling, whatever. It’s all good.
I’ll second Wendi and Stefan regarding the value of public money paying for skateparks, and refer those interested to the Parks Dept Webpage below:
http://www.seattle.gov/parks/Projects/Skatepark.htm
The decision to put public money into skateparks was not taken lightly, it was studied. The Parks Dept responded to what the public wanted to do in their parks.
Further, money was specifically allocated for skateparks in the Parks Levy of 2009, that the citizens of Seattle approved in a vote. In addition, private money has been granted to help fund the Jefferson Park Skatepark, I believe about $100k. Folks on BH and in South Seattle said they wanted and would use a skatepark.
I look forward to it opening.
Listen, I didn’t mean to piss off anybody. I’ve lived on Beacon Hill my entire life. I also used to be a professional driver for a few years and visited pretty much every neighborhood on a weekly basis during my delivery days. For the most part, I did not see much of a skateboarding community (people who skateboard) on Beacon Hill relative to other parts of the city. I didn’t know there were so many people who skate or support the park in the community. I just want to make sure that whatever was built in the neighborhood community would be used in some way by the community, particularly in traditionally underdeveloped south Seattle.
Thanks for your comments everybody. I really like that we’re starting to use this space for civil debate. Obviously, we share some philosophical differences about how taxpayer $$ should be used. I think Wendi raises really, really good questions about where you draw the line between which sports you support and which you don’t. As for me, I’d like to see a more progressive model where the city provides and maintains general-use parks, and then offers long-term (50-100 year?) leases on some plots in those parks to nonprofits, golf course operators etc. who want to use them for skate parks etc. The city/voters would still be able to select what goes where, thus protecting the parks against unsavory privatization, but t. I bet this would be far more efficient economically than the current system, but that’s just my 2 cents.
I support creating spaces on Beacon Hill that promote physical activity and youth engagement. The Beacon Hill Library is PACKED with kids and young people – the new and improved Jefferson Park and all of its ammenities and activities will provide another safe and healthy space here in our community for young people to hang out. That will mean a safer, healthier community for all of us!
@jay13,
I like the discussion we’re having, so, can you tell us what is so economically inefficient with the current system of allocating uses of park space in Seattle?
For that matter, are you suggesting that a skatepark in Jefferson Park will not be used, or will not be used as much as another type of park facility?
What is unsavory privitazation? The golf course and driving range are operated by a private company, using over half of all of that publicly owned property. Do they pay the city a fair rent? Do folks who live on BH prefer golf over other sports? Do people move to BH to take advatage of the golf course? Anecdotely, I don’t know anyone who golfs at Jefferson Park. I know lots of people who lawn bowl there. Does that mean anything? Probably not.
I find it hard to judge what facility or activity would get the most use at the new Jefferson Park, since its mostly been a resevoir and a golf course up until now. Also keep in mind that this is not a little neighbrhood park, its a regional park that should draw from a larger geographic area than Beacon Hill. Looking over the city-wide skate park plan, it makes sense to site a skate park at Jefferson Park.
BTW – the design posted above with the pipe is a bit misleading since it is not the one that is currently in the running. The pipe is gone… which, personally, I think is too bad since it would have been a nice signature feature. It would be the only skatepark in Seattle with a pipe – cool in the summer, dry in the rain, and a challenge for generations of skaters to come. So if you want it, or have an opinion about it, you can still pipe up (; here:
http://forums.grindline.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=54
(guest password: jefferson2010).
future generations of asians will skate the hizzell outa the park.
nothin in seattle area is that far away from another so beacon hill is a great location for sk8 park.
the views the people kick ass.
lets just not make any objects unskateable like kelso step up,& port townsends east section.
who let kelso get designed like that?
already we sea lots of flat.
look at new ballard,too much flat.
give us a big ass bank to get speed to make it up the lil banks toconcrete picnic table,like kingston.rails blow!
how will we have enough speed to make it up those banks to skate a cone?or a desk?
So jealous we have nothing like that in St. Louis, our local skatepark is nice but nothing as professional or as large as this.
There are skateboarders everywhere on beacon hill its just that you don’t see them cause theres no where for them to skate. Plus putting a skater in southward is a horrible idea cause it will just get taken over by fake 13 Mexicans
Finally another skatepark, its about time that we the skaters of seattle get a new skate park. its a struggle some what to have to go all they way to seattle center or up north when you live near beacon hill.
I think it is a great idea. They said the same things when they built the skate park up in Sammamish. “They will deal drugs, nobody will use it…” Well, guess what? The place is packed with kids from sun up to sun down. I know kids that wake up at 6 in the morning on weekends so they can can skate there without the constant crowds. A teenager willingly waking up at 6am on a weekend! This is a great place for kids to get exercise and be social. Please do it for the kids. Trust me, you will be amazed at the popularity of a skate park. The thing I also like is that it takes up way less space than a ball field and gets way more use. It’s a win win.
stereotypes stereotypes stereotypes, all black people are gangsters, all pitbulls are killers, theres no skaters in the south end. norm your an ignorant faggot