If you have no clue what any of the following are: “pump hump,” “grind ledge,” and “slappy curb,” you are either over 25 years old, have never been on a skateboard, or both.
But those terms played a major role in Tuesday night’s webinar about the design of an expected skate park for Evanston.
Each of those terms is a feature which skateboarders navigate during their run through a park which caters to wheel sports – skateboards, BMX, and in-line skates.
Evanston officials have been talking about building a skate park for well over a year.
In Tuesday night’s session, two finalist designs for the facility planned for Twiggs Park (off Green Bay Road) were outlined, with both planners and skateboarders saying which options they preferred.
“Evanston should have the coolest park in the whole Chicagoland area,” said one skateboarder.
Planners will take what the boarders had to say, and come up with a design combining the most preferred features. That proposal will be released in a session on May 17, with an opportunity for public input.
The two options are not significantly different. One has a closed bowl for skating, the other has an open bowl.
There would also be beginner, intermediate, and advanced sections within the 10,000 square foot facility.
About 30 riders could be in the park before it starts to feel crowded.
Cost of the permanent park was not discussed, although in prior sessions, the $350,000 to $750,000 range was mentioned.
Assuming the park gets final City Council approval, construction should start in about a year, with opening expected in November, 2023.
Skate park designer Vince Onel noted that there has not been a new skate park built anywhere in Illinois in the past year.
The Evanston park, he said, “will be the shiny new toy” in all of the state.
“People are going to come from all over.”
Is part of the reason that no other skate parks have been developed is concerns about liability or the cost of liability insurance?
Also, why does it take so long for construction to begin? Starting in Nov 2023 is hardly a good time to be skateboarding nor are outdoor activities needed with school in session.
Hopefully they don’t make the park heavily catered towards transition skaters(quarter pipes, bowls & half pipes). So few skaters prefer to use those as their obstacles of choice & they take up way too much space for something that ends up being unused the majority of the time. Very simple solution for finding what skaters currently want most. Watch any SLS events(Street League Skateboarding which is basically the NFL or MLB for skateboarding). Use that as the main concept & then for younger/beginner skaters make another section of SLS obstacles but scaled down. For good skateparks in the area to reference look at Grant Park in Chicago & the new Deerfield skatepark in the northern suburbs