The city of Emporia’s new skate park has been open for several months; however, city and project leadership gathered Wednesday afternoon to cut the official ribbon on the new amenity.
The new skate park, located in Whittier Park, is a project that has been nearly five years in the making, with preliminary discussions dating back even further than that. The project began to truly develop back in the fall of 2021 when the Emporia Community Foundation presented an anonymous $250,000 donation to the effort during the October 20 Emporia City Commission meeting.
City Manager Trey Cocking recalls that day vividly as it was that same night that he was officially introduced to the community in his role as manager. The city would match that donation in 2023 after city commissioners approved a $250,000 drawdown from the Lake Kahola fund, bringing the total project funds to $500,000.
Cocking was heavily involved with the project from the city side and says there were, like the skate park itself, many twists and turns that led to Wednesday’s celebration, namely, various revisions to the proposed plans and of course, as you may recall, deciding exactly where the park would go.
Throughout the process for the skate park, city leadership had expressed plans or hopes that the park would be just the start of future additions and improvements to Whittier. With that in mind, KVOE News asked Cocking Wednesday if there has been any developments towards those plans.
The new skate park was designed by American Ramp Co. based out of Joplin, Missouri. Representing the company Tuesday was Territory Director Jeremy Jones, who says some of the best minds in the skateboarding world had a hand in designing the park.
Jones says one thing that stood out to him about the process was the high amount of collaboration from all involved.
Emporia Community Foundation Executive Director Linda Kehres Schmidt says that while she has had a limited amount of involvement with the project, having only been in her role since last spring. That said, she said it was very clear from the beginning how dedicated the entire community was to making the project a reality.
According to Jones, the project is impactful for many reasons, namely that there is no other “modern skate park” for quite some distance. He tells KVOE News that the community can anticipate seeing some “regional skate park tourism” in the future.
Local skater Houston Clearwater was also in attendance Wednesday and even took some time to ride around the park. He spoke with KVOE News following the ribbon cutting and says it is a great park that will be accommodating to all ages and skill levels.
The new skate park includes the following features:
*Bowl with a hip
*Bump to rail and down rail for technical maneuvers
*”Manny” pad doubling as both a bump to ledge and an out ledge
*Two handrails for grinding
*Double set for jump practice
*Step-up challenge
*A-frame “hubba” ledge for advanced tricks
*Fun box with rail and pyramid hip for creative sessions
*Flat bar and ledge for balance
*Bank-to-curb section for fluid transitions
*Assorted quarterpipes and bank ramps
Construction on the park began back in September of last year and concluded later that year. The ribbon cutting was originally scheduled to take place in January; however, leadership chose to push the event to the summertime due to weather.
