Old Bothell park has new skating tricks

Published 11:04 pm Thursday, November 1, 2007

BOTHELL — Skateboarders in Bothell who wanted to do tricks on curbs and rails used to have two options: They could go to the skate park in Kenmore or skate on city streets.

Not anymore.

The old Bothell Skate Park was recently refitted with new ramps, rails and ledges, and even a new concrete picnic table that is fair game for tricks. The most notable new feature is a steep vertical wall that allows for stunts that were impossible at the park a month ago.

On Wednesday, a small crowd of teenagers on skateboards, inline skates and scooters took turns doing tricks on the new obstacles.

“It’s tight, it’s fun,” said Damon Anderson, 16, a Bothell skateboarder. “I like it better.”

The city spent $128,000 to refit the skate park because the old ramps and obstacles were becoming chipped and worn down, Bothell public works superintendent Pat Parkhurst said. The park was closed for less than two weeks — from Oct. 15 through Oct. 26 — while work crews installed the new equipment, which was brought down on tractor-trailers from Canada.

A group of about 20 skateboarders helped shape the improvements at the park during a meeting with city staff members in April.

“We took that input and narrowed down what equipment we wanted to put in there,” Bothell spokeswoman Joyce Goedeke said.

Before the remodel, the skate park had more open space with ramps set up around its perimeter. Now, the park has more of a streetscape.

Austin Matthiesen, 17, of Bothell said skating fast without stopping was easier before the remodel. The new park is better for technical tricks, but skating around freely is more difficult, he said.

“I liked the other one way better, but maybe I’m just not used to it yet,” said Matthiesen, who learned to skateboard at the Bothell Skate Park.

D.J. Scoville, 16, of Bothell said the park could use better obstacles for inline skating. His friend, Cameron Evans, 17, of Bothell said the new half pipe isn’t as steep as the one that was taken out, which makes certain tricks more difficult to pull off.

“I do like the old park,” Evans said. “It will grow on me eventually, but now I’ve got to get used to it.”

The new park is definitely better for skateboarding, said Jake Durden, 14, of Bothell. He doesn’t have to skateboard on the street anymore to find the obstacles he needs for his tricks.

“(The old park) had better ramps, but no rails or ledges,” Durden said. “The whole park was getting pretty bad.”