Plans to build a community skate park at Orange’s Grijalva Park are moving forward, with a design firm now in place, public input being gathered, and a construction timeframe on the horizon.
A coalition of residents, business owners and skating enthusiasts has long contended that skaters need a safe, dedicated space to practice their craft in town, especially after the closures of the Big-O and Vans skate parks that once operated in Orange.
That vision is picking up steam, as the city has allotted $1.77 million to build a roughly 11,500-square-foot skate park at Grijalva Park, and has hired a company to design it over the next few months.
The City Council set the project in motion in 2022, when it directed city staff to use $1.75 million in park development fees to build the first city-owned skate park at Grijalva Park.
As a result, the project was added to the city’s 2023-24 fiscal year capital improvement projects list, using $1.75 million in park development fees and $27,426 from a separate fund for Grijalva Park projects.
In October, the City Council authorized city staff to pay Grindline Skateparks, Inc. $267,690 to draw up preliminary designs and construction documents for the facility, which is slated to feature a lighted concrete skate park, a prefabricated restroom, paved ADA access, security lighting and spectator seating.
Grindline has designed and built more than 300 skateparks nationally and internationally since 2002, according to its proposal submitted to the city. Locally, the Seattle-based company has worked on the Ponderosa Park Skatepark in Anaheim, the McVicker Park Skatepark in Lake Elsinore, and the Vista Skatepark System in Vista.
It is using public input to help shape plans for the proposed skate park in Orange.
An initial community meeting was held in December at the Sports Center at Grijalva Park, where stakeholders could learn about the project, meet the designers, and contribute ideas for the skate park’s design.
Grindline is compiling the feedback received from that meeting, and will bring forward an initial design concept in the next few months, according to Charlene Cheng, public affairs and information manager for Orange. The general consensus was the park design should accommodate even beginning skaters, she added.
At least one additional public input meeting will be held this year; information about upcoming meetings will be posted to the city’s website and social media channels.
Design and construction documents for the new skate park are expected to be completed by late spring/early summer 2024, Cheng said, with the city going out to bid for construction after that in summer/fall 2024.
The city is developing the 42-acre Grijalva Park site in phases.
Plans for a skate park have been included in the park’s master plan since 2005, although the exact size of the skate park and proposed location within Grijalva Park are still to be determined, Cheng said.
Those interested in receiving email updates about the skate park project may send an email to: csinfo@cityoforange.org.
