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Q.C. to roll with skate park improvements
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Alex Ellzey, 14, rolls through the course during a youth skate competition in Queen Creek. Nov. 15, 2008.
Thomas Boggan, Tribune
Queen Creek’s most popular park is about to undergo a major overhaul for the benefit of the skateboarding crowd.
The town hopes to have the Founders’ Park skate area, located near Town Hall at 22407 S. Ellsworth Road, grow to almost twice its current size with new, sturdier ramps and other equipment by the middle of September, said Troy White, public works divisional manager.
Skate park closed through May 29
“(The skate park) gets the most use out of any amenity we have,” White said. “It’s very popular, and the skate ramps we have out there now have reached their useful life.”
The park was built seven years ago with two ramps and smaller amenities like guardrails and stairs, White said.
It regularly attracts 40 to 45 kids a day when the weather is cool but still averages 35 or 40 skaters in the summer months, said Creighton Wright, assistant parks and recreation director.
“In the cooler months, it’s starting to get a little crowded in there,” White said.
Because the current ramps only had a five-year warranty, it’s time to replace them with equipment that has longer life, White said.
The town recently asked companies interested in completing the park improvements to bid on the project. Officials hope to have a company picked in the beginning of August, White said. The $100,000 was approved and set aside as part of last year’s budget, he said.
The skate area encompasses 6,600 square feet of the approximately 12-acre (522,720 square feet) Founders’ Park. By the time improvements are done, the skate area will expand to 10,800 square feet.
A steel half-pipe and two large ramps will replace the two small wood ramps currently in the park, White said. The smaller equipment will also be replaced.
And once it gets further along in the process, the town plans to enlist the help of local skaters.
The Parks and Recreation Department wants to meet with a group of kids to get input on the design and layout of the new ramps, White said. That group will likely meet in early August, once Queen Creek knows exactly what equipment it’s getting, he said.
Skaters wanted
Queen Creek skateboarders interested in helping design the park's layout should contact Sergio Enriquez in the town's Parks and Recreation Department at (480) 358-3700.
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