The Delridge Skatepark, adjacent to the Delridge Community Center at 4458 Delridge Way s.w. will open Sept. 17 with the official ribbon cutting taking place at 1:00 pm.

The event begins at 11:00am with free beginner skateboard lessons and free helmet fittings. Also featured will be demonstrations by professional skateboarders, prizes for people attending and music from Grindline the Band, composed of members of the speciality construction company that built the park.

Grindline Skatepark Inc. was featured by the West Seattle Herald here.

The event is being presented in collaboration with Delridge Day (Like them on Facebook here) an annual one day event that takes place at the heart of the neighborhood, the Delridge Community Center.

The event will introduce community picnic games which will be held for children and adults.

Delridge Day is expecting crowds of over a thousand and parking is limited to street options. The handicap parking will be available for guests.

The North Delridge Neighborhood Council is seeking volunteers to help with the event, with a truck for transporting chairs high on the list. If you can provide assistance (or have a truck for the purpose) please email Amanda Leonard for details.

A budget of $750,000 was allocated for the 13,000 square foot skatepark through the Pro Parks Levy and the Parks and Green Spaces Levy. $250,000 of the final cost was reallocated from the Myrtle Skatepark site.

“The Delridge community showed strong support for a skatepark during our citywide skatepark planning process in 2006. Their involvement and commitment helped us allocate the resources for this great park,” said Christopher Williams, Acting Seattle Parks Superintendent. “This skatepark is just one of the many Levy funded projects that together we have brought to this West Seattle neighborhood, and just the newest in skate facilities with others currently in design or construction.”

Local skateboarders worked with Seattle Parks and Recreation and Grindline Skateparks Inc. to provide input on the park design. The skatepark features a 10’ deep advanced egg bowl and a large intermediate flow bowl, with depths ranging from 4’ to 7’. Around the two bowls, a flowing street course meanders through the large trees on the site. Grindline designed the park to integrate with the existing Delridge Playfield and take advantage of the shade provided by the trees. A new picnic area on the north side of the park provides great viewpoints into the skatepark.

SPAC Project Lead Matthew Lee Johnston commented, “It’s awesome to have Grindline Skateparks, an international leader in skatepark design and construction, build an amazing park in their own community. We’re ecstatic that Delridge Skatepark is complete and that the City acknowledges skateboarding’s popularity by providing skateboarders with a safe and accessible place to recreate.”

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Teens from the Service Board are putting their stamp on the skatepark through a glass mosaic mural on the benches overlooking the park. Working with artist Pat Davidson, neighborhood youth created artwork that represents the region and their community.

During the opening event, Skate Like A Girl Youth Employment Skateboarding Program will offer free skateboard lessons at 11 a.m., followed by the official ribbon cutting at 1 p.m. "Emerald Concrete," a 30 minute documentary created this summer by the RecTech Youth Media Corps, will show in the Delridge Community Center. The documentary tells the story surrounding the building of a world-class skatepark on site at Delridge Community Center. This video documentary is a first effort for Seattle Parks Department interns and represents hours of hands-on learning, hard work and thoughtful story-telling.

Seattle Parks is working on completing a number of skatepark projects throughout Seattle. Jefferson Park Skatepark will be finished by the end of the year. Hubbard Homestead Skatespot will be completed in spring 2012. Parks is in the planning and design phase for three additional skate areas, Roxhill and Judkins Skatespots and Benefit Park Skatedot.

For more information, please contact Parks Project Manager Kelly Davidson at 206-684-09980 or Kelly.davidson@seattle.gov or visit http://seattle.gov/parks/projects/skateboard/delridge.htm

For more information on the Service Board, please visit http://www.theserviceboard.org/ and for additional information on Skate Like A Girl Youth Employment Skateboarding visit http://skatelikeagirl.com/yes/. And for information on Rec Tech, please go to http://www.seattle.gov/parks/teens/programs/rectechprogram.htm.