Construction on Cincinnati’s first skate park could begin by this fall.
The project was just awarded a grant for $300,000 from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Cincinnati City Council also allocated $250,000 in the fiscal year 2024 budget.
A group called the Cincinnati Skatepark Project has been advocating for a park for the last few years. Co-founder Evan Walker says the total cost is estimated to be $800,000 to $900,000; the group has already privately raised $50,000 and will continue to fundraise and apply for local grants.
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The city has chosen a builder, according to a spokesperson from the Recreation Commission, and the design process will start soon.
"This will be a custom-designed skate park," Walker said. "So we'll work with the community — both the skate community and the local neighborhood — to meet the needs of the city."
The skate park will be located behind the Camp Washington Recreation Area in what’s currently a grass lot, next to a playground and basketball court. Walker says the design will preserve as much greenspace as possible.
"I think people will be surprised that this will look like a really cool and beautiful greenspace, even when we pour concrete and people are skating," he said.
Walker says the Camp Washington community council also has requested incorporating lights for public safety. He says that will also encourage skaters to use the space in the evenings, both in the winter when it gets dark earlier and in the summer when it may be too hot to skate during the day.
"We think that working with the builder to make this a really creative and innovative space will attract people from even neighboring states and show that we need skate parks, frankly, across the city," he said.
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That could include at Sawyer Point, where a fire that damaged the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge to I-471 also destroyed a playground — leaving a now-empty space that Walker says would be ideal for another skate park.
The Cincinnati Skatepark Project is asking the city to consider the idea. A spokesperson for the Cincinnati Parks Department told WVXU in November there will be a community engagement process to determine what should go into that space, and that process could take months.
