A project to make the Trailside Wheels Park more accessible and inclusive for people of all ages and abilities is moving forward. The Administrative Control Board of Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District voted unanimously on June 11 to approve the conceptual design, which completely reno vates the skate park with new street-style terrain and a warm-up/beginner area.  The design also expands the skate park’s footprint from 16,000 square feet to a little more than 25,000 square feet. Included in that expansion are about 4,500 square feet of transition-style features and 3,000 square feet of integrated pump track.  Phase two of the project now begins for Spohn Ranch, a Los Angeles-based company specializing in skate park design that was hired to overhaul the facility. This construction documentation phase includes finalizing drawings and specifications for the project. Spohn Ranch is handling all aspects of construction, including labor, materials and equipment. The plan is to transform the skate park into a modern “wheels park” that serves a broad range of users, including those on skateboards, scooters, BMX bikes and inline skates.  The skate park was created at Trailside in 2010 by placing prefabricated features on an outdoor skating rink.  “This approach limits performance and durability when compared to purpose-built skateparks,” a district staff report says. “After more than a decade of use, the facility has outgrown its original design, and a renovation is now needed to replace and modernize aging components.” The design was developed with the help of community input. Staff members and Spohn Ranch representatives made presentations at an open house and a town hall-style meeting of proposed features, took feedback from attendees and offered an online survey. Two conceptual designs were shown at the town hall and there was a clear consensus among participants that one of them was preferred. “We wanted to create something that’s wheel friendly,” Jason Baldessari, Spohn Ranch’s global director of skatepark development, told the board. “So as long as you don’t have a motor, we want you to be able to come here, use this facility, and not only have fun, but also challenge yourself. We designed features in here that can be used by adaptive users.” The design also focuses on the experience of non-users, such as parents who plan to stay at the park watching their children skate, Baldessari said. No one likes waiting in a car, especially on a warm day, and a plaza provides a comfortable and shaded space for them to sit, he said. In addition, he said the skate park is not going to have a negative impact on adjacent amenities, including a basketball court and a shade structure, as well as a future parking lot expansion. After the public engagement, additional geotechnical work was done on the site and showed extremely shallow bedrock, the staff report says.  “This shifted the extent and depth of some features, but the design was still within the public’s expressed acceptable range,” the report says. The approved project cost is $1.85 million and the funds are coming through Basin Recreation’s capital improvements budget and impact fees. In addition, the district staff applied for a grant from the Utah Office of Outdoor Recreation and was awarded $500,000, which will offset the cost. The post Basin Recreation approves ‘wheel friendly’ design for Trailside skate park  appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less