Birmingham, Alabama Citywalk Skatepark is among hundreds of projects designed and built by New Line Skateparks Inc. The firm’s designers are seeking community input to help create a vision of what Moline’s proposed skatepark and pump track could look like. CREDIT NEW LINE SKATEPARK INC.
The community will get its chance next week to share with world-class skatepark designers what they want to see included in a skatepark and pump track envisioned for Moline’s revitalized riverfront. The skatepark Initial Design Session, which will be led by Moline’s Parks and Recreation Department, will begin at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 4, at […]
The community will get its chance next week to share with world-class skatepark designers what they want to see included in a skatepark and pump track envisioned for Moline’s revitalized riverfront.The skatepark Initial Design Session, which will be led by Moline’s Parks and Recreation Department, will begin at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 4, at the Moline Public Library, 3210 41st St. The session also will be available online for those who cannot meet with New Line Skateparks Inc. leaders in person.“The community discussion is an opportunity for skaters and bikers to provide input to a world-class design firm on the features they would like to see in a skate park and pump track,” said Renew Moline President and CEO Alexandra Elias. The organization she leads is partnering with the city’s park and recreation department to plan and build a future skatepark, which is one piece of a network of potential developments in the works under the new interstate 74 bridge.Renew also is partnering with the city to create a Moline Riverfront Master Plan for the acres of riverfront that have been reclaimed through construction of the new bridge and the demolition of the old one. From the start, the skatepark has been part of the evolving vision. And the May 4 meeting is another step in that process.“The city’s designer, New Line Skateparks, has designed hundreds of skateparks and pump tracks worldwide, and they specialize in making each project representative of its community,” Ms. Elias told the QCBJ. Which is why community input on the skatepark – currently expected to nestle under the Interstate 74 Bridge – is so important, project leaders say.“While they bring sophistication and vast experience to Moline, these meetings are specifically intended to find out what our community wants in a skatepark and pumptrack, and how we want to use it,” Ms. Elias said.“New Line’s ability to design a skatepark and pump track that is beloved by the skating and biking community depends largely on the community voicing its views,” she added. “These meetings are the chance to ask for features that will make this new park wonderful.”Such features are signature elements of skateparks created by the internationally known full-service municipal skatepark design and construction team, according to New Line’s website. The company also calls itself an industry pioneer that has designed “nearly 400 highly recognized projects” and boasts more than 20 years of concrete skatepark development experience. Its projects focus on creating integrated skatepark environments that create a meaningful connection between youth and the communities in which they live.In December 2022, Moline aldermen directed Parks & Recreation Director Eric Griffith to enter into an $82,400 contract with New Line Skateparks Inc. for the first phase of the skatepark’s design.City Administrator Bob Vitas told aldermen then that the resolution would give the city a chance to see a preliminary park design before deciding to perhaps move forward with the project.The design phase is just the first in a number of steps that have to be taken and hurdles navigated before it can be completed. Among them is Illinois Department of Transportation approval, which Mr. Griffith said last winter could take anywhere from a couple of months to years.
