The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs community gathered Wednesday to celebrate the grand re-opening of the Warm Springs Skatepark.
During the grand opening, Tribal Councilman Carlos Calica from the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs “shared a traditional blessing to open the park and protect all that utilize it,” a news release said.
Wednesday’s event also featured guest speakers, a ribbon cutting, a DJ, food and giveaways. And, of course, there was time for skateboarding in the new facility outfitted with sophisticated concrete features at Elmer Quinn Memorial Park in Warm Springs.
The effort to rebuild the park began when a Tactics team skateboarder, who lives close to the reservation, flagged the existing park as unsafe, according to a news release.
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The skatepark had fallen into such disrepair that local kids had been hitch-hiking to a skatepark that was miles away and outside the reservation, said Michael Collins, director of Managed Care for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. “That was how their love of boarding was,” Collins said.
Ultimately, Tactics worked with the Tribal Council and reached out to Collective Concrete & Construction to suggest working together to restore and improve the park.
The Skatepark Project, a nonprofit organization founded by Tony Hawk, helped to raise more than $235,000 to rebuild the park, according to a news release, with support from Tactics, Ginew, Dehen, The Ford Family Foundation, The Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation, Roundhouse Foundation, PTM Foundation, Visit Central Oregon, Jefferson County Commissioners and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.
Benjamin Bashein, executive director of The Skatepark Project, on Wednesday recalled what the park had been like before the renovation.
“We were about year and half a go and they had a concrete pad with some old wooden ramps that had just been loved to death,” he said.
The new park is indeed a collaborative effort, he said. “We worked with young people from the the community to help design this park,” he said. “All of these elements and obstacles reflect their input and their insights into how they like to skate.”
Watching skaters enjoy the new park, Collins grew emotional.
“I look around today and I can’t help but be emotional to see all the smiles and all the great people having a good time,” Collins said Wednesday. “I just can’t thank everybody enough. … This is going to help our community be bonded together, a safe place for our kids to skate, minus a couple skinned elbows and knees, of course.”
— The Oregonian/OregonLive