|
Current Status
In response to local demand and in order to address safety and liability concerns, Clark County opened the Extreme Sports Park section of Pacific Community Park to the public on August 17, 2007 - almost a full year before the rest of the community park construction project will be done.
September 2007 Clark-Vancouver Television (CVTV) video clip (.wmv file)
COME PREPARED: Because the county is opening the park early, there won't be many typical park amentities available until the rest of the Pacific Community Park development project is completed in June 2008. This includes:
- Limited Parking: Until the rest of the park is finished, there is only be a small number of parking spaces available on one side of 164th Avenue and 15th Street, which are also used by large trucks.
Because of the lack of parking, the county strongly encourages visitors to carpool, ride the bus (C-Tran bus No. 30 stops one block away on NE 162nd Avenue), walk, skate or bike to the park whenever possible during this interim period.
- No Permanent Restrooms: Two restrooms are being built as part of the community park, but won't be finished until next year. A portable toilet next to the extreme sports park is available in the interim.
- Limited Space Inside the Park: The rest of Pacific Community Park is still an active construction work zone, so the Extreme Sports Park must be fenced off from this area completely due to safety and liability concerns. As a result, there isn't a whole lot of open space inside the Extreme Sports Park. The county has enlarged the pedestrian and spectator areas to help accommodate visitors as much as possible, but it will be a bit cramped for a while.
- No Water or Shade: There is no drinking water or shaded areas available in the Extreme Sports Park at this time. This will change after the rest of Pacific Community Park is complete, but until then please come prepared with water, sunscreen, etc.
Location
The Extreme Sports Park is located on the west side of Pacific Community Park, on NE 164th Avenue just south of NE 18th Street in east Vancouver.
Vicinity Map (use Mapquest tools to zoom in and out, or to get driving directions)
Rules
A public meeting was held in July 2007 with approximately 50 local skateboarders and BMX bicylists to discuss the early opening of the Extreme Sports Park. The official rules for use of the Extreme Sports Park were developed with help from those who attended this meeting, and from those who signed up for the e-mailing list (see "Contact Information" section below).
Welcome to Your Park
This park was built in 2007 with input from local skateboarders and BMX bicycle riders, and strong support from the community.This is your park. It is up to you to keep it fun for everyone by following these rules and encouraging others to do the same.
- Park Hours: 7 a.m. to dusk
- This park is unsupervised. Use at your own risk.
- This park is open to extreme sports enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels. Know your own abilities, be safe and respect those who have different skill levels or methods.
- When riding, look up and communicate your path.
- Helmets, elbow pads, knee pads and other protective clothing are strongly recommended.
- No glass containers, motorized vehicles, or foreign objects (jumps, launch ramps, etc.).
- Respect the hard work that went into making this place possible, and be a good neighbor. Keep noise levels down, pick up after yourself and don’t vandalize.
- If you see someone acting inappropriately, be a mentor and share tips on park etiquette.
- Call 911 in an emergency, or to report criminal behavior in or around the park.
- Call 397-2446 to report maintenance problems.
Be cool. Just ride.
Steward Program
At a public meeting on July 18, 2007, several local skaters and BMX bicylcists volunteered to be park "stewards" and help out with basic maintenance of the park when it opens, including sweeping, litter and graffiti removal. A storage shed containing brooms, dust pans, squeegees and other supplies is located inside the extreme sports park area. To find out more about the steward program, e-mail Jilayne.Jordan@clark.wa.gov.
Description
When Pacific Community Park was being planned in 2004, the Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation Department requested feedback from park users about what they'd like to see in their new park. One of the groups that made their voices heard at that time were local BMXers and skateboarders. As a result, a 20,000 square foot Extreme Sports Park was included in the long-term master plan for Pacific Park.
The design for the Extreme Sports Park was developed by Grindline with input from local skaters and BMXers. The final result was a park that combined street and vert/bowl features in a configuration that accommodated BMX riders and skateboarders of a variety of skill levels.
In early 2007, Clark County began construction of the Pacific Community Park development project. There wasn't enough money in the budget to build the entire 20,000 square foot Extreme Sports Park, so the county decided to build the first half of it rather than not building anything. The lead contractor for the Pacific Park project, Thompson Bros. Excavating, hired Grindline to do the construction and work began in March 2007.
Phase 1 3-D Design Drawing (574 kb JPG)
Phase 1 and 2 Design (166 kb PDF)
Fundraising for Phase 2
Although the first 10,000 square foot section of the Extreme Sports Park was built in 2007, an additional $300,000 is required in order to build Phase 2. Local community-based fundraising efforts for Phase 2 of the Extreme Sports Park have been underway for several years, including a BMX contest last summer and a recent car wash, but we still have a very long way to go.
A fund to accept tax-deductible donations has been established with the Parks Foundation in Vancouver, WA. For more information about how to make a donation to this fund, contact the Parks Foundation by calling (360) 693-7050. For county assistance promoting a fundraising event, please contact Jilayne Jordan by e-mail or at 360-397-6118 x. 4949.
Photos
Photos of people using the park after it opened:
The following are a series of photos (JPG format) tracking the construction progress on the Extreme Sports Park from March-August 2007:
- August 16, 2007 - a volunteer helps get the park ready for opening
- August 16, 2007 - new spectator areas done, fencing going up
- August 16, 2007 - a crew spreads gravel on the temporary parking lot near 18th Street
- August 16, 2007 - new sidewalk in front of the park
- August 9, 2007 - a crew prepares one of the spectator areas for concrete
- August 9, 2007 - concrete forms for the pedestrian and spectator areas
- July 19, 2007 - Grindline employee removing graffiti
- July 19, 2007 - street section looking northeast from the bowl area
- July 19, 2007 - new transition between street and bowl areas
- July 12, 2007 - west side of bowl area
- July 12, 2007 - north side of bowl area
- July 12, 2007 - adding more rideable surface to street section
- July 12, 2007 - placing rebar on transition area
- July 5, 2007 - street section
- July 5, 2007 - rail on top of the full pipe
- June 28, 2007 - street section
- June 14, 2007 - street section
- June 14, 2007 - completed bowl area
- May 29, 2007 - east side of the bowl area
- May 29, 2007 - west side of the bowl area
- May 14, 2007 - looking into the park from 164th Avenue
- April 30, 2007 - working on the bowl/vert area
- April 9, 2007 - concrete forms and rebar in the bowl/vert area
- April 9, 2007 - pouring and forming concrete sides
- March 26, 2007 - excavating the bowl/vert areas
Contact Information
Jilayne Jordan, Parks Communications Specialist - 360-397-6118 x. 4949
To receive e-mail updates about the Extreme Sports Park, and other skateboarding and BMX projects in Clark County, please join our distribution list. Just send your name and e-mail address to Jilayne.Jordan@clark.wa.gov. |
