New Leavenworth skatepark opens at Enchantment Park

Just like the adjacent pump track in Enchantment Park, the new Leavenworth Skatepark came together at record speed. The new skatepark opened last Friday. It was designed and built by Grindline Skateparks, Inc. Leavenworth City Administrator Joel Walinski said he was surprised they were able to move forward and get it done. 

“If you consider the decision to move forward came last July, then, to have it done and completed within a year, that is kudos to the council for making it a priority and also the Cascade School District for coming to an agreement on that,” Walinski said. “And for Grindline, walking through process with the community. A lot of times, these things do stall out when people start talking about design.”

Walinski said they did have some hard discussions about the design, but nonetheless, everybody came together which allowed Grindline the opportunity to move forward on the construction. 

“Grindline did a very nice job through the design process and then secondly, putting the bodies on site moving forward on the construction. Overall, I think it moved very smoothly. I’ve seen other incidents where these types of things get bogged down at some point in the process,” Walinski said. 

The skate community was able to raise extra funds for some of the amenities. Walinski credits local skater Stone Parker for rallying the community to gather the dollars to make some enhancements. The enhancements are aesthetic but also some skating features. 

One the dollars came in, Walinski said they gave the green light to Grindline. The old skatepark lacked places for users to gather, he said. 

“One of things the city wants...we have a lot of amenities down at Enchantment Park. We want to make sure the skatepark is a place. The other group that should also get the kudos is the city’s public works crew. They worked with Grindline to finish the site and make it that place,” Walinski said. “Once that is done, there has been talk about adding lights or a shade cloth around it. Those things are on the list for the future. There would have to be funds raised for that. Those would be nice amenities.”

The city will be responsible for upkeep of the park, just like the other things in Enchantment Park. It might be a draw for tourists, but it’s primarily for the locals. 

“The visitors are definitely welcome. What we’ve seen at the park is it being used by lots of different residents, because it offers so many different activities,” he said. 

Matt Fluegge is the senior project manager for Grindline. He thought the construction went on schedule. The weather was mostly favorable. 

“We didn’t have any real issues. The city was great work with. It was a real smooth, successful project,” Fluegge said. “Pouring concrete in hot weather is a challenge. You have to move a little bit faster, because everything sets up quicker. We’ve haven’t had any rain so the weather has definitely been favorable.”

Fluegge thinks the park turned out great. 

“For the budget we were dealing with and the small footprint, there’s a lot of a variety of features in there. The city and the community jointly came up with some additional funding during construction so we able to add some additional features,” Fluegge said. 

The park features an enclosed bowl ranging from four-to-six feet in depth. One of the add-ons was some Bavarian tile around the deeper portion of the bowl to tie-in with Leavenworth’s Bavarian theme. 

Other features include a pyramid quarter pipe with a bowled extension, ledges, hand rails and other transitional features. Fluegge believes the park will cater to all skill levels. 

“I think the city’s interest was targeting primarily beginner to intermediate skateboarders, with some features for more advanced. I think the design we came up with is one that will work great for all ages and skill levels,” Fluegge said. 

Fluegge thinks this park represents some of their best work, finish, quality, aesthetics. 

“It’s a great looking park. It’s smaller in size in comparison to some of the projects we do, but it doesn’t mean it is not just as good or better,” Fluegge said. 

Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.