Albany is home to a vigorous skateboard culture. The Washington Park tennis courts along Madison Avenue have long been the center of the local skating community, even though the pasttime was technically illegal for some 30 years. Now, the city is going forward with an ambitious plan to build a skate park.
In November 2014, with support from the Albany police department, city planners took a serious look at transforming four underused courts into Albany's first public skate park. Now, more than $200,000 in funding from various sources is available to transform the courts into a professional grade skate park.
Local skaters recently gathered at the Washington Park Lake House to weigh in on how the park can be designed to cater to Albany skating enthusiasts. Longtime Albany skater Ted Cangero: "Because a skate park is really an artistic creation that needs to reflect the local scene that skateboarding is here in Albany."
The brainstorming session was led by former pro skateboarder Kanten Russell, now a project manager for Stantec, an international professional services company in the design and consulting industry, whose Action Sports Group was selected to craft the city's new park. Russell says Stantec just happened to have an office in Albany, and the city found out it had a division for designing skate parks. "So we had to compete for it competitively, win it competitively, and then basically, because we already did the preliminary work and cost estimating on what we thought could work here, I think we had kind of a jumpstart on the project to meet their very quick stringent deadline, scheduling and budget."
Russell explains portions of the existing asphalt courts will be used as rideable surfaces. "By re-using what's there and creating some additional features, that helps the budget go a lot farther than starting from scratch and having to pour all new concrete."
Part of the park will be developed later, should more funds become available, and could include a feature known as a "bowl," offering skaters an opportunity to hone their skills.
Skaters offered their input on local skating style and preferences. Again, Ted Cangero: "The suggestion I made during the meeting was that we ultimately have a committee of senior skaters sign off on the final design, because there are guys standing in this room with 20 years of experience in skateboarding."
Cangero welcomes the opportunity to work with the city and with Stantec. Russell clicked with the skaters. "Seems like the skateboarding community has a lot of heart. So I think that if we can create something along the lines of what they're asking for here tonight, then it definitely will be a great draw for anyone here in the city."
Community organizer Dannielle Hille raised concerns about liability should someone get seriously hurt. "Skateboarding without a helmet, on a bowl, you could easily end up with irreparable brain damage, if you're not careful, unfortunately."
In the late 1970's and 80's many skateparks across the country closed down because of lawsuits and liability. Russell says municipalities have since drawn up laws dealing with recreational activities that could be labeled hazardous so as to sidestep any legal tangles. "Bike riding, BMX bike riding, skateboarding, we're treating this as a dangerous and hazardous sport. Meaning that, when you're engaged in activity, you know the inherent risks at hand. So as long as you're posting that, at the facilities that are made-to-ride, you're basically saying, 'Hey it's posted here that you're knowingly riding in an area that's designated for this activity, and if you hurt yourself you're basically riding at your own risk.' And I think that's same kind of public park rules that go for other sports like baseball and football and basketball, where if someone gets hurt, they can't sue the city and say 'Oh, I didn't know any better, I broke my wrist playing football.' They say, 'Well you knew what you were getting into and you can't sue us for that.'"
The park plan entails a mix of street and transition terrain, suitable for all age groups and ability levels of skaters and bike riders.
It would be built on a 15,000 square foot section of under-used tennis courts at Washington Park's southwestern end, specifically selected because the area features a natural change in elevation, and in its "developed" state would not require the City of Albany to disturb any natural areas.
June 24th is the deadline to submit suggestions for the final skate park design, scheduled to be finalized by the end of the month. After that, there's a month of preparing construction documents, putting the project out to public bid, followed by processing and awarding. Ideally, construction will begin in September and be completed in November.
