Sean C. Morgan
The City of Sweet Home’s effort to build a skate park is underway, but it may be after the Jamboree the first weekend of August that it is built.
City Manager Craig Martin took several young persons on a field trip Friday to three other skate parks to check out different types of skate equipment.
Noise was among the top concerns about the skate park during a conditional use hearing before the Planning Commission, Martin said.
The city had been looking at portable metal skate equipment from Skatewave, including ramps, half pipes and rails.
“Metal tends to be a little noisier,” Martin said. Martin was interested by a similar product made from wood, Rhino. “I’ve been really apprehensive about wood.”
He was concerned that wooden equipment would not last as long, and he wanted to visit sites that had it so he could see how it was holding up.
Both Gervais and Hubbard have skate parks made with wooden equipment. Those were the main sites of interest. Martin took a decibel meter to the parks to find out how loud they are.
He planned a third stop if they had time at the Aumsville Park, a raised concrete bowl.
Since learning of the wooden equipment, Martin has learned of a third alternative, wood over steel frames, Huna Designs.
All wood construction would leave the equipment less portable, Martin said. There’s only so many times the equipment could be screwed together and taken apart. The steel-framed equipment would retain the portability of the metal equipment but the quieter ride of wooden equipment.
The skaters were “hot on the Rhino,” Martin said. They like the quieter ride and the transitions onto the ramps are smoother.
The City of Sweet Home has not decided yet when to build the park, Martin said. The Oregon Jamboree uses the skate park lot as a camping area, and Martin fears the RVs on fresh concrete might lead to cracking.
The lot is located in the open space just east of the District 55 Central Office.
Martin hopes to have a decision on the timeline for building the park this month, then the city must go out and purchase the equipment.
The city has some $55,000 available for the skate park, including $30,000 from the general fund, $15,000 in donations through the city’s water billing system and $10,000 raised by the Kiwanis Club. Site work, including the concrete, will cost between $6,000 and $10,000.