Skate Park Proposed for New Bend Park

More than 600 people have signed a petition urging the Bend Park and Recreation District to include skate and snow play features in all of their design proposals.

While people NewsChannel 21 talked with say having a snow park might be a little unusual for Miller’s Landing area, It’s a new skateboard park that some say is a must.

James Stewart has been skating for the past five years, and practices almost every day. He’s only 9 years old, but his coach says he performs like a 22-year-old.

“It’s really really fun,” Stewart said Wednesday. “There’s so many tricks you can do, and it’s really physical — it lets you open up to something new.”

But for Stewart and other Bend skaters, there aren’t too many options for them. Besides the Truck Stop, located on First Street in Bend, where Stewart practices the most, there is only one other skate park in Bend: Ponderosa Park.

“It would be really really cool to have a new skate park and have a lot of new ramps and stuff, it would be awesome,” Stewart said.

And Stewart’s wish is one of the five plans in consideration by the Bend Park and Rec District for Miller’s Landing,

“There’s a lot of different avenues that people want to see in our park,s and different recreation, and skateboarding is one of them,” said Dallas Brown, a Bend Park Board member.

Brown says there has been a lot of grassroots effort by the skateboarders for the board to consider a skate park.

One of those involved is Gabe Triplette, who has coached Stewart for the past 2 years, and says it’s kids like Stewart that would benefit the most.

“For the kids to really get good around here, you have to something that’s there for them,” Triplette said.

While Ponderosa Park is an option it’s one where Tripelette says its not a good environment for kids.

Brown wouldn’t comment on whether the park board is leaning toward the skate park idea, but he did say the board is considering it.

And for Triplelte and Stewart, they are hoping for a state-of-the-art skateboarding facility, where not only Stewart can hone his craft, but others too.

“Maybe there will be more than one James Stewart — maybe we can have five or six James Stewarts,” Triplette said.

Brown said the park board is still taking public input and encourages citizens in the community to offer what they think they would like to see in this area.

As for a final decision, it will be a couple more months, as the park board is still in the initial input process.