State College’s ‘High Point Skate Park’ releases final design, moves closer to reality
With professional skateboarders and world-renowned skatepark designers volunteering their local expertise, State College’s oft-discussed skatepark is moving closer to reality — and it’s starting to generate even more excitement among community members.
Organizers now expect to begin construction on “High Point Skate Park,” long referred to as Action Sports Park, by next summer with aspirations to open around August 2023. Granted, there’s still work to be done — such as fundraising for the $1.9 million park — but a final design is finished, the borough and mayor have lent their support, and a new project website has launched at highpointskatepark.com.
“This is important to me because I’m very focused on making the community a better place, and I truly believe a park like this, which doesn’t exist currently, would just be a huge asset,” said Gordon Kauffman, one of the lead volunteers for the skatepark. “It’d be an asset to the community and for parents to have a safe place for their kids to go.”
Area residents have clamored for a public skatepark for more than a decade, with the nearest such park more than 20 miles away in Philipsburg. (Tussey Mountain does boast a skatepark, but a season pass costs $219.) So, for many local riders, the only free alternative has been practicing illegally in the street or finding some flat, unused pavement.
For many, a local skatepark for riders of all levels has been long overdue.
“It’s obvious there’s a need for it in our town,” said Jake Johnson, a professional skateboarder and co-founder of the downtown IQ Skateshop. “Skateboarders and bikers and action sports enthusiasts are looking for unique obstacles to ride on. Even though we can just ride on flat ground, it’s like having a basketball player without a hoop. I mean, yeah, you can dribble — but that’s really it.”
What will the park look like?
The “all-wheel” skatepark — designed for skateboards, BMX bikes, scooters, in-line skates, etc. — has seen a number of changes since a draft was first presented publicly in January.
The final plan, which organizers agreed upon in April, will see the skatepark increase to 20,000 square feet, or about 11% from that January draft. After listening to nearly 200 locals who responded to a survey, a number of additional tweaks and changes were also made, such as increasing ramp heights and adding a series of obstacles that resemble camel humps, which should appeal to beginners. Those changes have also helped boost the price tag from $1.3 million to $1.9 million.
But those involved with High Point Skate Park say every change is worth it — and they should know. Several are known the world over for their designs and ideas.
Those who contributed since January include familiar names in the skating world, in Mark Podgurski and John Saxton. Podgurski is a longtime expert who’s done international work for Camp Woodward building parks, and Saxton is the owner of Skidmark Parks. Saxton has also designed parks all around the world, including a Bolivian skatepark constructed on salt flats and made entirely from salt bricks.
“This is my local park, so I didn’t want them to build a park that I wasn’t going to be stoked riding myself,” Saxton said. “So I had to get involved somehow because I wanted to do my best to make this as good as it can be.”
Like before, the skatepark essentially consists of two areas that blend into one another. One is geared more toward street riding — thinks tricks on rails or ledges in a plaza — while another is for park riding. The skatepark is designed to be open, with the ability for multiple skaters at all skill levels to work at their own pace with steps, curbs, ramps, a volcano feature and even a granite centerpiece, a rare bonus for skaters.
Johnson, who came up with the conceptual design for the skatepark, was especially excited for all the granite set to be incorporated into the park.
“It’s the gold standard as far as rideable surfaces,” Johnson said, adding that ledges will also be granite. “It’s just the smoothest, most forgiving surface. ... I’m really excited for beginners who are going to learn their grinding on granite, and the advanced riders are going to appreciate it, too, because you can do more technical tricks when you have these ledges.”
New Line Skateparks, a municipal skatepark design and construction team, turned Johnson’s idea into the draft that was on display in January. Podgurski and Saxton then helped improve upon the draft, with New Line also weighing in during the process.
What challenges remain? What’s next?
The biggest remaining obstacle — fundraising.
With the final design now in place, and with a borough engineer working on details like stormwater management, the focus has recently shifted to raising money for the skatepark. So far, about $800,000 has been raised, and State College Borough Council will vote in December on a 2023 budget that tentatively calls for an additional $250,000 to go toward the skatepark.
Organizers are also applying for more grants and, soon, volunteers will begin reaching out to potentially larger private and company donors.
But, first, those involved with High Point Skate Park are looking for smaller donations from community members — whether it be $10, $25, $50 or more. The goal is to raise $50,000 that way to help show potential big donors that this is a project the community is — literally — invested in.
“In addition to the survey we conducted in late January, which showed a high level of participation, we think this will help us get the larger private donors by showing the community really wants this park,” Kauffman added.
So far, with minimal advertising as the effort just kicked off in the last few weeks, more than $5,000 has been raised by the community. Those interested can donate online via credit or debit card at highpointskatepark.com, or those who prefer to donate via cash or check can also follow the instructions after clicking the orange “Donate” button on the website.
Some bureaucratic hurdles still remain, such as formal approval of the final land-development plan, but that’s not expected to be an issue with help from the borough.
The idea for this skatepark can trace its origins back to 2013, when champion BMX rider Jamie Bestwick presented the idea to a committee on the Centre Region Council of Governments. It’s never been closer to becoming a reality and, in discussing the skatepark earlier this year, more than a half-dozen skateboarders and BMX riders told the CDT the same thing in different words about having their own skatepark.
About time.
