Fresh photos of Lower Woodland
I snapped these yesterday. There are a few of those feared Sahli-brand sharp hips in the flow area. Hopefully they don’t screw up the bowls…so far they look good. Except, of course, for the galvanized coping.
Seattleskateparks.org is a grassroots advocacy group dedicated to developing and promoting safe and accessible places to skate in Seattle.
Hi SS.O, do you have any insider-style ETAs on this park?
Stumbled across the new construction a few weeks ago while walking my dogs through the park. I could hardly believe what I was looking at!! I grew up skating the streets of Seattle and I can’t give enough respect to the city and to the people involved in making this project happen. I’m wondering if this park will follow most of the parks in SoCal and charge a small admittance fee ($2 maybe). This way the park would also create a couple jobs for today’s youth. How about a partial cover too? Given the weather in Seattle, partial coverage would be so incredible (at least in the bowls). Anyone have some insight on these questions?
Thanks!!
Sam: The park is currently slated for opening in April but Sahli is working at his signature pace (glacial), so expect a delay.
Corndog: Seattle skatepark advocates have always focused on free access to safe public skateparks. A roof has been suggested at every single skatepark design meeting I’ve been to. Funding is usually the issue, but there is more than enough bread available for the SeaSk8 replacement. Try to get to the meeting tonight and propose a lid!
-MLJ
we need a rooof on that bad boy if we don’t. then the winter we will never skate for ever. winter sucks here all it does is drizzle drizzle
I just skate there the other day. It’s pretty fucking fantastic, except for all the rocks. Will someone please bring a broom and just sweep it. That clam shell is INSANE! My friend carved it six feet up. The nipple in the 4th pic is pretty sweet as well. Overall good for all skill levels.
A few things about this park.
You mention the “Sahli Brand sharp hips” – Let’s keep in mind that the Sahli crew just builds to specs, it is the artictect to designs the specs. Sahli has the best concrete craftsmanship in WA state. Don’t blame the builders, blame the artictect for that.
Also, the “signature pace of Sahli” is “glacial”, you say, well that wouldn’t explain why they are working overtime on the weekends to get all the change orders given by the city done. Also, better to make sure it is done right, not done fast.
Looking forward to the opening of this park! Looks like it will be done some time in June.
Don’t give the builders such a rough time.
B*Y:
Thanks for posting here.
I understand your viewpoint, and believe me when I say I am ready to be objective and give credit where credit is due.
The problem with “builds to specs” is that there are many subtleties in skatepark construction that cannot be defined in the specs. Several skateboarders who also work in the engineering and construction industry went over the construction documents for this park and identified all of the areas that were not well defined. The hips were not represented by cross-sections, and many of the slope elevations were missing. We pointed out all of the missing information and gave Wally Holliday our recommendation on what specifics should be added.
My problem with the “build to spec/blame the architect” argument is that a good builder should not just build what’s on the plan even if it’s not right. That’s what change orders are for. But Sahli and his crew simply do not have enough experience to identify these areas and so they’ve built some very flawed parks as a result.
I also understand that they have been working hard to get LW done, and that’s great. This project has actually been much faster than Kent III which is appreciated. I agree that it’s better to do it right.
Sahli’s finishing work is good, I agree with you there. But because the crew does not skate, they simply lack the wherewithal to make important calls in the field on behalf of the actual users of the park, and this results in some flaws. They may have the best concrete craftsmanship in the state, I am not qualified to judge that. I do know, however, that they are not the best skatepark builders, and through critiques like this I only hope to help them improve.
We’ve been working with Seattle Parks and Wally to try and contribute respectful and professional feedback through the proper channels. This means filtering the feedback through Wally and Parks to Sahli. We tried to meet with Tom Sahli directly but he was not interested in speaking with us.
Thanks again for your interest and I too look forward to skating this park. Everyone who has already skated it says it’s really fun, so despite the flaws it seems like it’s a success which is the most important thing.