Andy Adams of Hermiston skates the bowl of Irrigon's new skate park at its grand opening celebration April 14. Staff photo by Nicole Barker

This past year saw the commitment of several Eastern Oregon communities to providing quality skateboard parks for its youth.

At the top of the wave was the April opening of the Don Baxter Skate Park in Irrigon.

After initially hitting roadblocks in finding a suitable location for the Pendleton Skate Park, fundraising now is in high gear.

Additionally, plans have been drafted for an expansion at Echo’s existing park and fundraising efforts are falling into place.

Irrigon

Teenagers gripped skateboards while others straddled bikes, anxiously awaiting the formalities to end April 14, marking the official opening of the Don Baxter Skate Park in Irrigon.

The park, named after the former mayor, formed a committee June 14, 2005, and youths and adults dropped into its bowls less than two years later.

Baxter, who died Sept. 9, sat at the lip of the skate park named in his honor and thanked Tucker Tovey, Chris Klein, the Rev. Rick Yardley and the rest of the committee who worked hard to see the project to completion.

Baxter, who spearheaded the project, was committed to bringing a world-class skate park to the small town without raising local taxes.

Councilman Bob Flournoy made a motion to name the park after Baxter during the Feb. 27 Irrigon City Council meeting and the council unanimously agreed.

“I’m really glad we did,” City Manager Jerry Breazeale said. “I’m extremely happy Don was able to see the grand opening and all those kids having a great time.”

The park, which encompasses more than 8,000 square feet of skateable surfaces, includes bowls of varying depths, a full pipe, stairs, rails and natural grinding surfaces, and provides an area for beginners and seasoned veterans.

Yardley, committee chairman for the skate park, said that’s the beauty of the park – youths will be able to use parts of the park to hone their skills, yet likely won’t outgrow it.

The city received donations and grants, including $20,000 from the Tony Hawk Foundation and nearly $375,000 from the Oregon State Parks Department and the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.

In October 2006, Micah Shapiro of Grindline Skateparks of Seattle, unveiled plans for the park, drawn up after meeting with area youths and adults. Although the initial 16,000-square-foot design was scaled down for the first phase, Breazeale said the city will expand it in the future.

“The skate park has been immensely popular,” he said. “Eventually we do plan to expand the skate park, but we have some other things we want to accomplish first.”

Pendleton

Two years ago, a new skate park in Pendleton was little more than a dream.

Now, the Pendleton Skatepark Committee has selected Dreamland Skateparks to make it a reality.

Pendleton Parks and Recreation Director Dave Byrd held an initial meeting in October 2005 with community members, Pendleton police and civic leaders to get the wheels rolling on a new skate park. The aim was to make something that would supersede May Park, the small hardtop skater playground located in the southwest corner of the John Murray Building grounds.

By December 2005, the group created a formal committee, with Jason Noble and Rick Baltzar as co-chairs, and it rounded up more people to participate, including local skateboarders. In 2006, the committee went through an extensive site selection process, including getting shot down at a city council meeting for suggesting Roy Raley Memorial Park as a site.

But the band regrouped and found an alternative location on the outskirts of Bob White Ballpark near Westgate road.

Through all of this, committee members and supporters raised about $470,000, including in-kind contributions, to build the new skater haven. And now, it’s pushing for a final $11,000 in donations to draw a $25,000 grant from the Ford Family Foundation to finish off the fundraising.

And while the project aims for those monetary goals, it isn’t just waiting around for the money. In January, the committee will ask the city council to approve a contract with Dreamland.

During that first meeting in 2005, Byrd echoed the film “Field of Dreams” when he said, “If you build it, they will come.” Byrd, of course, was referring to a skate park, not a ball park, but it seems his sentiment will prove just as prophetic. Byrd recently said crews could be “turning dirt and pouring concrete” in the first quarter of 2008.

Echo

Echo’s minuscule skate park, completed in May 2005, includes a ramp, a couple of rails and grinding boxes.

The skate park committee would like to see the park expanded to encompass 7,000 square feet in the future.

Jerrie Fife, who is committed to expanding the park, contacted Airspeed Skate Parks, of Florence, to draw up a design for the expansion. Fife and her husband, Dale, then opened their home, the historic Koontz House, as a fundraising effort in April.

The landmark Echo home, built in 1881 by the town’s founder, J.H. Koontz, is on the National Register of Historic Places. The rare glimpse of the home brought in around $2,500 for the skate park project.

In mid-December, the project received a $5,000 donation from Safeway, boosting donations to nearly $100,000.

City Administrator Diane Berry said an additional $15,000 has been donated for excavation and in-kind labor.