Mr. Edward Russo
Reporter
The Register Guard
ed.russo@registerguard.com
(541)-338-2565
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
Janet Brown
Board Member of SES
janet@citizensbuilding.com
December 5, 2013
Dear Mr. Russo,
It is my pleasure to provide you with a media kit covering the events of the new skate
park being built under the Washington-Jefferson Bridge.
This brand new skate park will be completed in the spring of March 2014, and will be the
largest lighted skate park in the United States. A soft opening for the park will happen in
March, but the grand opening will be June 21, which is also known as National Go Skate
Day.
The almost $2.5 million skate park has been an ongoing project since 2004 when local
Eugene skaters came together and dreamed up their idea of the perfect skate park. With
the help of a non-profit group called Skaters for Eugene Skate Parks, local skaters set out
to receive petitions to put the project into action.
I think a story on the skate park would be of interest to readers who are involved in
outdoor activities and as well local and non-local skateboarders. With this story comes
the ability to take pictures that show the progress of construction on the park.
In this media kit I have included a backgrounder on the 10-year process, a fact sheet
about the sport and a news release covering details of the skate park and the opening.
Please contact me if you have any questions. I will call in a couple days to check in if I
have not heard from you.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Lindsey Wallach
lwallach@uoregon.edu
Fact Sheet
For more information contact:
Janet Brown
Board Member SES
janet@citizensbuilding.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 5, 2013
Skateboarding
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Skateboarding is one of the fastest growing sports in the U.S.
It is relatively safe in comparison to other sports such as Football and Baseball
Skaters often push away disruptive behavior from general parks because they
populate it
Has been termed “sidewalk surfing”
The physical skateboard has evolved over time to fit the new styles of
skateboarding
o In the 70’s they were built wide because the style during that time was to
ride in empty pools
o When street skateboarding started in the late 70’s, the wide board turned
into a narrow board with a concave nose and tail
Professional Skateboarders include
o Tony Hawk
o Bob Burnquist
o Danny Way
o Bucky Lasek
o Rodney Mullen
Types of Skateboarding
o Street
o Vert
Basic Tricks and Stances
o Ollie
o Kickflip
o Grind
o Regular Stance: Standing with your left foot forward
o Goofy Stance: Standing with your right foot forward
Backgrounder
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 5, 2013
For more information contact:
Janet Brown
Board Member of SES
janet@citizensbuilding.com
Skaters for Eugene Skateparks
History
Skateboarding derived from scooters, better known as the first kinds of skateboards. As
people adapted to new technologies and lifestyles, so did skateboards. By 1959
skateboards were being sold on shelves.
Skateboarding has had its ups and downs throughout time. The sport died down in 1965,
but rose again during 1973 when new innovations for wheels came about, and as well as
more durable board. During this time period as well pro skater Larry Stevenson created
the kick tail, which formed a new way to skateboard. With the implementation of the kick
tail came the most famous skateboarding trick: the ollie.
Skaters For Eugene Skate Parks (SES)
Skaters For Eugene Skate Parks started in 2004 when a group of skateboarders in the
Eugene area wanted the parks department to provide funding for a local skate park and
make it the city’s main priority. After creating a proposal and gaining 1,700 signatures in
a span of only a couple months, the skate park became the top interest of the parks
department.
SES is known as a non-profit group, and is a branch of the Portland group Skaters for
Public Skate Parks. SES’s mission statement is to create a highly professional skate
terrain for the local skaters and as well as a safe community.
The Washington-Jefferson Bridge Skate Park Project
After receiving 1,700 signatures in only a short period of time, the idea for the skate park
became the cities top priority and went into action
SES and the City of Eugene banded to work together to help contribute to the project.
The city would help with allocating the funds for the skate park and Skaters for Eugene
would do its part by helping with fundraising and receiving donations from citizens.
One of the first processes of the project was to conduct public meetings of where the city
wanted to place the skate park. During the meetings the city decided that WashingtonJefferson Park had a lot of area that was not being used so they wanted to discuss which
location under the bridge would be the best spot. In 2008 they decided it would be best
placed where the playground was because that structure was not always being used unlike
other areas of the park.
After the location of the skate park was determined, the city had more meetings to discuss
design elements of the park, and who was going to construct it. Ultimately Dreamland
Skateparks, which is a company known for building skateparks around the world signed
up do so.
As time progressed, the project grew more expensive: due to the infrastructure, landscape
and everything that was not actually the skate park itself. In 2010 the project went from
needing to raise $125,000 to $500,000 to more and the city of Eugene ran into budget
constraints. The budget constraints consisted of putting a stop on all maintenance work.
Due to budget constraints within the city of Eugene, the board members looked to find
funding support within the community. To further develop their support, they presented
this issue to a city council representative who was well versed in the parks department
and the skate park’s desired location. With hopes to receive money from a 2006 park
bond, the committee had the council representative take this issue to a city council
meeting. They found that the 2006 park bond had an astonishing $11 million surplus;
making the $600,000 allocation in question seem plausible. Shortly after presenting the
skate project, the city council had backed the idea and decided to help the Skaters of
Eugene find necessary funding. Six months later, the parks department had found a
$700,000 surplus sitting in the System Development Charges (SDC) account. This
account receives revenue from construction projects and allocates its funds to park
maintenance. Due to a lack in construction projects from 2009 to 2010, the SDC decided
to allocate the money to building the skate park.
Construction for the park began in August and is continuing everyday.
Fundraising
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Premier event at the McDonald Theatre
Skateboard competitions
Customized skateboard decks for sale
Contributors
• Downtown Eugene Rotary
• Kidsports
• Eugene Parks Foundation
• Community volunteers
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 5, 2013
For more information contact:
Janet Brown
Board Member of SES
janet@citizensbuilding.com
Washington-Jefferson Skatepark Progressing
The city of Eugene is continuously working on the completion of the new skate park
under the Washington-Jefferson Bridge in Downtown.
The skate park will be completed by March of 2014 and will have its grand opening on
June 21, also known as National Go Skate Day. Skate teams and professional
skateboarders are said to be attending this event. The workers on board with the project
and as well as contributors have already planned what kinds of events they want to have
at the skate park. The skateboard company Tactics will put on an annual event each year
for the park that is said to be a two-day competition and the winner of it all will receive a
cash prize.
The Washington-Jefferson Skate park is said to have a price tag of $2.5 million and will
be the largest covered and lighted skatepark in the United States. The park will have
renowned skate features to it such as stairs to jump off of, real pools to ride around in,
banks and pyramids, a snake run and more. The location under the bridge will be
beneficial for all skaters during the rainy season.
This city’s interest for this skate park project is nothing new but instead has become a 10year effort since 2004. The idea for this project started when skaters from Eugene and
cities close by wanted funding for a new local skate park. After creating a proposal and
receiving 1,700 petitioners from those of interest, the skate park became a top priority.
The local skaters also became known as a non-profit group called Skaters For Eugene
Skateparks (SES).
The process to get this project implemented was not an easy task. They went through a
series of public meetings deciding where under the bridge would be the best location,
how they were going to design the parks and as well as who was going to build the park.
Troubles occurred throughout this 10-year process. They ultimately ran into budget
constraints that put a halt on maintenance for the park and as well as funding issues. With
the stop of workers they went to the city council to see if they could use money from a
2006 park bond. After a city council representative took this question to a city council
meeting, it was approved and construction for the park could begin.
Cement has recently been poured to start building the features.
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