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City awards bid for Washington Park skate park project


The city of Escondido has awarded the contract to New Line Skateparks for the design of the Washington Park Skate and Parking Lot Expansion Project. In November New Line’s bid was $97,555.         

This project includes the design of a permanent, custom, 5,000 sq. ft. concrete, all-wheel skate spot and expanded parking lot in Washington Park. 

District 2 councilmember John Masson, who has pressed for more skateparks in the city, told The Times-Advocate: “When I grew up in Escondido, we had a rather large skate park and I spent a lot of time there. I’m really excited to see the skate spot happen at Washington Park and I’m even more excited about working with my council colleagues to add additional skate spots throughout our City.”

Last November the city put out a request for proposals (RFP) This project will include the design of a permanent, custom, 5,000 sq. ft., concrete, all wheel skate spot, and expanded parking lot in Washington Park.

The RFP calls for gathering input from various stakeholders, including staff from the City’s Community Services, Police, Planning, Public Works, and Engineering Departments, and park users and the community. The consultant will host at least six community meetings, including design workshops. 

Concurrently, the consultant will also be doing a study of the parking lot, looking at current usage and identifying peak and low demand, identifying shortfalls and providing a design for expansion and improvement of the park, including lighting and landscaping. 

In the 2017/2018 City Council Action Plan, the City Council told staff to develop a funding strategy for developing a skate park at Washington Park, and look and more skate spots at other city parks. City staff toured a number of skate parks throughout the county, educated themselves about skate parks, including meeting with skate park design engineers. 

Skate spots are typically 3,000-5,000 SF, serve about 12,000 residents and have a capacity of 20-35 persons. 

Staff has identified  three other parks for potential skate spots, including Jesmond Dene Park,   (1,500 SF ),Mountain View Park,   (1,500 SF) and Westside Park, (1,500 SF.)

About two years ago Community Services staffers held a skate rally at Washington Park to gauge community support. They took 146 surveys where participants identified their favorite skate spot features. Many of those who participated said they wanted to be involved in design and fundraising. 

Staff presented the council with options for different sized skate parks at various park, but Washington Park was the recommendation because of location, eligibility for low to moderate income grants, and because it fits the requirements to use Park Development Funds.  Washington Park is a heavily used, centrally located in a high density neighborhood, with schools, a recreation center and shopping malls nearby. It is easily accessible to the public on foot and by public transportation. 

In June 2017 the council approved a capital improvements budget that included $300,000 for the design and construction of a 5,000 SF skate spot within the park, and $385,000 for the Washington Park Parking Lot Expansion Project.

The average cost to design and build a skate park is $50 per square foot, so it is estimated that a 5,000 SF skate spot would cost about $250,000.  Staff also intends to pursue other funding sources including local and county grants, private individual donors (such as the Tony Hawk Foundation), corporate donors), state and federal grants, and in-kind donations. 

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