Princeton skate park plan on board

California design firm hired to plan facility after getting advice from young local experts

By: Courtney Gross
   Attention Princeton skateboarders: Grab your gear and boards and get ready to grind on rails and steps because the long-awaited skate park should arrive this year.
   After years of lobbying, grant applications and funding discussions, Princeton’s skateboarders will be able to call Hilltop Park off Bunn Drive home when construction of a 11,000-square-foot skate park is completed, probably by the fall, said Jack Roberts executive director of the joint Princeton Recreation Department.
   On Monday, the Princeton Township Committee approved a design contract with SITE Design Group Inc. of Carlsbad, Calif. SITE Design’s contract is not to exceed $29,200.
   The design process will include two public workshop sessions to conjure up schematics for the public park, Mr. Roberts said. The first of those sessions is scheduled for 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 14 at the Suzanne Patterson Center behind Princeton Borough Hall and Princeton skaters are encouraged to attend.
   Mr. Roberts said officials would discuss municipal liability in connection with the park as the design stage progresses. The Recreation Department will also determine at a later date if the park will be supervised and if skaters must sign a waver or wear certain equipment.
   "Refreshingly, skateboarders take responsibility for the risks they are undertaking," Mr. Roberts said. But, he added, "We want it to be the safest skateboard park."
   SITE Design was chosen from four other design groups mostly located on the West Coast where skate parks have flourished for years. SITE Design seemed like a perfect fit for Princeton, Mr. Roberts said, in part because of its encouragement of public participation in the design process.
   At the first workshop, the recreation director explained, participants will be able to make design proposals in focus groups, and the company will then create a plan based on those ideas.
   Unlike other skate parks in the Princeton area that bring in equipment and bolt it down, the Hilltop Park site will be constructed entirely from concrete, Mr. Roberts said. There will be two areas within the skate park — one will be a streetscape site with rails and the other will be a bowl shaped area.
   "One important thing about skateboard parks is that it flows well," Mr. Roberts said of the conceptual design.
   The entire cost of the skate park is estimated at $300,000 at a minimum, Mr. Roberts said.
   For years, skateboarders in Princeton have been left — albeit illegally — with public spaces like the Princeton Public Library plaza to practice their complicated and gravity-defying moves.
   Borough Councilman and head of the Princeton Parks Alliance Andrew Koontz, who has helped fundraise for the park in both roles, said the need for a skate park in Princeton has been great for some time.
   "Interest in skateboarding is ongoing and growing," Mr. Koontz said. "It’s not a passing fad."
   Recognizing their lack of practice space, both borough and township officials applied for state funding to make a skate park in Princeton a reality. Until recently, those attempts had been unsuccessful.
   Borough Council and the Township Committee collectively appropriated $125,000 for the park’s construction in the 2006 capital budget.
   But the ultimate saving grace came from a Mercer County grant last year that would cover the rest of the cost of the park. The grant was aimed at fighting childhood obesity.
   In addition to funding, location of the skate park has posed a problem. Some have called its location on Bunn Drive inaccessible and on the outskirts of town.
   Although Hilltop Park is away from downtown Princeton, Mr. Roberts said the site is more than adequate for the skate park.
   The site is also accessible by public transportation, Mr. Koontz said, and in comparison to other parks in Princeton, Hilltop Park is geographically central to both John Witherspoon Middle School and Princeton High School.