California Skateparks designed this facility which opened in October 2005. The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks awarded a Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) federal matching grant in the amount of $200,000 to assist with project construction. Total project cost was $480,000.
Located at 645 S. St. Francis in downtown Wichita, the skatepark has already been described as a "destination" park by many of the skateboarders that helped make it happen. This is because of its unique features, such as being located under an overpass and the fact that the facility is all-concrete, a priority for the 15-member Skatepark Committee. Many skateparks are made of wood and after time need to be replaced. Also, world renowned skatepark designer Wally Hollyday designed this park, along with some of the best skateparks in the nation.
The skatepark is 12,045 square feet in size (approximately 1/4 of an acre) and features two distinctly different areas. The "Bowl Area" which consists of three bowls made of "shotcrete", a type of concrete that is shot on the surface. California Skateparks, a skatepark design firm based in California, builds concrete skateparks utilizing the innovative methods developed by Wally Hollyday. The deepest bowl is 9-1/2 feet, one of the deepest in the Midwest. The second bowl is 8-1/2 feet, and the third bowl is 5-1/2 feet. The "Urban Landscape" provides traditional elements such as the four "Street boxes" also known as "fun boxes", four concrete ramps, stairs, handrails and ledges. The entire plaza is 100% "skateable" landscape.
Parking for the skatepark is located off of Emporia Street. It should be noted that Emporia runs one way northbound, and St. Francis runs one way southbound. Take the Washington exit off of Kellogg east, turn west on Waterman and turn south on St. Francis.
