The final design review meeting for the 8,000 sq. foot Roxhill Park Skatespot was well attended and offered a lot to see. It was no less laced with skater jargon, reflecting the passionate pursuit of the more than 25 skateboard enthusiasts that came to the Southwest Branch of the Seattle Public Library Mon. Nov. 14 to voice their opinion.

Ranging in age from young teenagers to guys in their 30's and 40's the skaters looked over 4 potential plans that had been developed by designer Colby Carter of California Skateparks working with the Seattle Parks Department, and overseen by Project Manager Kelly Davidson.

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Each of the plans presented variations on the themes offered so far but tempered by the input of the skaters.

At times, the jargon of skateboarders, commonly called skaters, would become long descriptive passages in which an imagined ride would use various parts of the park such as "Hubbas (A ledge down a set of stairs where skaters can "grind" or slide) or a Half Pipe (A type of ramp that is shaped like a U and used for vertical skating), and perform tricks like an Ollie (A no handed jump performed by tapping the back of the board on the ground or ramp surface).

For example one young skater said, "Where there's two Hubbas, between a rail and a Hubba could you put a small ledge right next to it on the bank so you could go for the big one or come down the other side and grind the Hubba or the rail."

That kind of creative input is shaping the final design choices but a show of hands was requested and conceptual design "A" received the most votes. That design (see attached file) got 12 votes from the crowd. It contains such elements as a Bank with a Euro Gap, a Sloppy Bank, 4 stairs with Hubba ledges, 4 stairs with a handrail, a Flip Bank and an SL's Bridge. Again, if some of those terms are not familiar to you, you are likely not a skater.

Manger of Major Maintenance Linda Hubert said, "People here are passionate about their skate features and they know intimately what each little bit of degree, what difference it makes to them and their ride, and their slide and their grind. It's just not a "hubba" to them. It's an experience."

14 year old Hank Ufkes (son of White Center Chamber of Commerce President Mark Ufkes) said, "This park is a game changer. Delridge (the new skatepark in North Delridge) was like all tranny, all bowls but this is what what Seattle really needs. It has ledges, rails, street and it has banks, it has stair sets. All stuff you can find on the real street and that needs to be in the skateparks."

The budget for the improvements to the park is just over $1 million dollars funded by the 2008 Parks and Green Spaces Levy. Parks plans to bid the construction this spring and be in construction in 2012 with the opening hopefully next fall. Some of the budget comes from the Rob Dyrdek Foundation who contributed $75,000. The foundation promotes the Safe Spot Skate Spot Program, which seeks to create safe and legal havens for skaters across the country.

Ryan Barth, Chairperson for the Seattle Skatepark Advisory Committee said, "I really appreciate that they listened to feedback and came in with a number of designs (...) It looks like everyone unanimously went through that one configuration that's more linear. It's nice that we're actually going to get a street plaza, which is great. We don't have one of those in Seattle so it will be nice to have. I'm hoping through this process we can have and still look for something unique to Seattle because I'm not seeing that yet." Barth explained that the street style elements are what younger skaters prefer. "What we have in Seattle right now is "transition" (meaning curved pipe and ramp style park elements) which is great for older people like me (he's 36) but a lot of the kids are looking for something that's more 'street.' It's nice to have stuff that's integrated from the street league competition because kids get really psyched on being able to ride stuff that professionals ride. That'll be a nice touch hopefully."

Another part of the project mentioned by Davidson was the potential for moving existing trees using a specialized piece of equipment for the purpose. She's looking into the costs and equipment availability.

The Parks Dept. and California Skateparks will consider the comments made and any input they get via email to Kelly.Davidson@seattle.gov .

Seattle Parks hopes to be able to break ground in early 2012.

The next phase of the project, the playground equipment is the subject of a separate meeting set for Nov. 30.

At the second meeting, Parks will present the proposed design for the play area renovation for Roxhill Park and gather input from the community. Roxhill Park is located at 2850 SW Roxbury St. in southwest Seattle.

You can learn more about the project by visiting the Seattle Parks page for it here.