SEQUIM — Skaters and cyclists look to ramp up efforts to redesign the 17-year-old Sequim Skate Park in Carrie Blake Park.
Leaders of the Sequim Youth Skate Park Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, held an informal meeting Oct. 6 at the skate park to talk future plans and accept a $2,000 donation from the TeamInspire Project started by Emblem3.
Foundation leaders and local skaters hope to raise up to $750,000 over five years through donations and grants to add multiple elements and do repairs to the park at 202 N. Blake Ave.
Tim Stanford, vice president for the foundation, said the group is considering approximately doubling the riding space in phases.
“We can probably get something sweet with at least $100,000,” he said.
President Mark Simpson said the group has raised about $6,000 so far while applying for various grants including through the Tony Hawk Foundation.
Simpson said with construction underway on moving Carrie Blake Park’s entrance between the skate park and Trinity United Methodist Church, group members saw this as a good opportunity to begin seeking more help.
“We know Carrie Blake Park is a doorway to Sequim, and we want [the skate park] to be a good representation,” Simpson said.
The park caters to riders of all ages and styles including scooters, bicycles, rollerbladers and skateboards.
Simpson said the park’s current condition is geared more for bikes.
“Bikers love this, but it’s really rough for skaters,” he said. “In the winter, we can see the water seep through, and there are cracks everywhere.”
The foundation received a design for the proposed skate park from Grindline Concrete Skatepark Design and Construction of Seattle last year, which expands the existing park to the west, where a new temporary trail was recently installed.
Stanford said the foundation created different sponsorship opportunities to fund different parts of the skate park ranging from naming rights of the park at $100,000 to sponsoring a skate bowl for $25,000 to $250 for a name on a logo and sign or $100 for a name on a sign.
Breezie Ceballos, president of TeamInspire Project, said her brothers, Wesley and Keaton Stromberg of the band Emblem3, wanted to support the skate park effort because they spent a lot of time here and it’s a positive outlet for local youths.
The brothers’ nonprofit, Ceballos said, seeks to inspire youths to have a purpose and promote positive social change.
Wesley Stromberg said via email that he was happy people are looking to update the skate park.
“[It] was like a second home to me growing up,” he said.
“It’s so important for the kids of Sequim to have a hobby … it keeps kids out of trouble and exercising. I am so proud that with the help of my band Emblem3 and my sister and TeamInspire we are able to contribute a donation.”
While no city funding is currently designated for the park, the city’s Parks, Arbor and Recreation board approved the concept design last fall, and an expansion is included in the city’s Carrie Blake Master Plan.
Those seeking to support the park can go to the group’s Facebook page under “Sequim Youth Skate Park Foundation” and/or send tax-deductible donations to the Sequim Youth Skate Park Foundation, Attn: Tim Stanford, P.O. Box 153, Carlsborg, WA 98324.
________
Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group Local riders at Sequim Skate Park gather to accept a $2,000 check Oct. 6 from the TeamInspire Project, founded by members of the band Emblem3. Funds will go towards a goal of expanding and fixing the existing skate park.
