Community members leading the effort to build a public skatepark in State College now expect construction to begin no later than the summer of 2024 as fundraising for the project continues.
With an estimated cost of $1.9 million, just over $1 million has been raised for the 20,000-square-foot facility for wheeled sports like skateboarding, rollerskating and scootering to be located at the borough-owned High Point Park off of Whitehall Road, Kim Faulds, a member of the Action Sports Park Committee, told State College Borough Council on Monday night.
“[$900,000] sounds like a lot, but we’ve already raised over a million,” Faulds said. “So I’m very hopeful and I know we’ll get there.”
Since 2020, when the initiative began in earnest, the project has received three state grants totaling $750,000 and a $200,000 commitment from the borough. It’s also been awarded $30,000 from Tony Hawk’s The Skatepark Project and $25,000 from the Hamer Foundation, while organizers have also raised more than $40,000 from private donations, online fundraising and community fundraising events.
The committee is continuing to pursue grants from governmental agencies and the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau, as well as private donations and contributions from Centre Region townships whose residents may also benefit from the park. To donate, visit highpointskatepark.com or crpr.org/high-point-skatepark.
“In 2023, we had hoped to go to construction but it does not necessarily look like we’re going to get there,” Faulds said.
But, she said, the end goal is 2024, because some of the grants will expire after that, “and we will not let that happen.”
Once ground is broken, construction is expected to take about three months.
It’s been a long road to get there. While talk of a free and easily accessible public skatepark in State College dates back at least 25 years, the effort gained significant momentum in 2016 when a group of local parents and community members began working with the borough on a plan for what has been called an “action sports park.” In 2017, State College Borough Council voted to include the project in its Capital Improvement Plan and since then borough officials have worked to secure grants and determine a location, while volunteers led the charge on private fundraising and planning.
Jake Johnson, a professional skateboarder and State College native who opened IQ Skateshop on South Pugh Street in 2021, and his father, Tim, a professor emeritus of landscape architecture at Penn State, came on board in the last few years and helped develop the concept for the current design, drawing on features from locations Jake has skated at across the United States and around the world.
They enlisted New Line Skateparks, which has led design and construction on more than 350 municipal projects, to develop final technical designs and construction plans, and a final plan was drafted last spring after numerous meetings were held with local youth and professional professional BMX riders and skateboarders, along with other community members.
The wheelchair-accessible facility will replace the unused baseball field at High Point Park, taking up about 3 acres of the 6-acre lot. It will be designed for all skill levels with amenities for park and street-style riding with ledges, stairs, rails, banks, a mini-ramp area, a brick volcano, quarterpipe, planting areas with boulders for seating spots and a center courtyard with a large granite pad.
Faulds noted that the upper part of the design is a plaza-style park for skateboarders while the lower elevation has been refined to better support scooters and bikes.
“We’re really looking to work with all wheels on this park,” she said. “We want everybody to feel accepted in this space and let them know that all of this planning is for everyone.”
The park is also designed to be appealing to anyone, whether or not they are on wheels, Faulds added.
“[New Line] collaborated with Jake and Tim to make sure that this design felt like State College and that it also was an area that was aesthetically pleasing so that it would be a beautiful place for people to be outside of skating, so that it would be pleasant for all community members that would come into contact with this area,” she said, adding that it has a green design with native plants for landscaping and elements to mitigate stormwater runoff.
High Point Park was selected, in part, because it is a short distance from State High, Delta and Corl Street Elementary and 1.7 miles from downtown State College. It’s accessible by car, CATA bus and a bike path. The park will continue to be owned by the borough and will be maintained by Centre Region Parks and Recreation.
An area of the borough that was once designated “a desert for recreation opportunities,” will have the YMCA of Centre County State College Branch, the under-construction Whitehall Road Regional Park and the High Point Skatepark all within short distance, Faulds said.
“This going to become very soon a hub for athleticism and activity for State College,” she said.
Council members applauded the community committee for their efforts and expressed optimism that the project will be a success.
“I am really impressed with the job you folks have done,” Council Member Peter Marshall said. “You have done exceptional job and I know it’s going to get done. Your passion on this and what you’ve done, really it’s almost unbelievable to me.”
Prithvi Narayanan, the State College Area School District student representative to council, said he was excited to see fundraising in “the home stretch,” and that students are looking forward to being able to use the new park.
“Just hang in there,” Faulds said. “It’s coming.”
