Lake City Skatespot needs your support
Kevin Hilman is trying to get a skatepark built in Lake City.  This part of the North end always gets dissed because it’s a part of Seattle, but it’s often not thought to be.  It’s also contains several pockets of concentrated lower income housing, which is  something that’s usually attributed to South Seattle.  People forget that not all of North Seattle looks like Maple Leaf.
Heres what Kevin has to say in his own words about his effort to get the spot built. Â Please feel free to reach out and help the guy if you care about skateparks in Seattle. Â He has created a website and is doing all of the right things. Â He just needs some skaters to step up and work with him to make it happen.
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New skatespot project in Lake City
There’s a new skatespot project trying to gain momentum in Lake City,
and they need your help.  Identified as part of the city-wide skatepark
plan, Lake City Playground has been recommended as a location for a
skatespot.  The proposed park is about 2 blocks west of Dick’s.
A skatepark in some form has long been on the wish list for the
neighborhood, so the project has strong support from various local
businesses and community groups such as the Lake City Chamber of
Commerce and the Lake City Development Council.  However, while the
project has strong support, it needs more people to get to the next
level.  What is currently needed is a core group of volunteers to drive
the project forward.
Specifically help is needed for:
– designing, distributing flyers
– ongoing outreach to neighbors, local business, youth organizations
– grant writing
– exploring other fund raising opportunities
If you live in NE Seattle, or know some skaters or skater parents that
do, please let them know about this project, and encourage them show
their support, or even better, to get involved.
For more details, background, maps, contact info, etc. see the project
website at http://www.skatelakecity.org/.
This park was considered for a skatepark project years ago and was determined unfit. The community uses this park daily for soccer games, family reunions, dog walking, children’s play-dates, basketball tournaments and for a multitude of other purposes. Changing this location into a skatepark with negatively impact the direct community.
Thanks for your comment. I would be interested in hearing about how this determination was made, and what justifies a community conclusion vs. a personal opinion. If I take your comment at face value, it sounds like a great active space that would be perfect for a skatespot, as long as no existing use was supplanted with skateboarding.
Thank you for your effort for a skatepark in the neighborhood. I am a Lake City neighborhood resident, mother of a 13 year old skater and I too skate. We do not have a skatepark within walking distance of our house (Dahl is still too far for my son to walk). It would be a place where he could skate with his friends and I could skate there too. As a parent who is at the skate park, I keep an eye out for safe use of a park. Like at Jefferson skatepark in South Seattle, the skate park could be an integral part of the existing land use (ie playground and playfields). Many times there are observers/park users that gain much enjoyment from watching the skaters. Thank you again for effort in making this happen. I am available for helping with this project.