Joe Blum’s freshman science students at Richfield High School were unhappy with the state of the local skate park. It was older, without many challenging elements, and there was a basketball court right next to it in disrepair that was always empty. Why have all that space dedicated to something nobody ever used when the skate park, in high demand, was so small? “You know, there’s something you could do about that,” Joe told them. The RHS Skate Club was quickly formed, and Joe helped them contact Amy Markle, then Richfield’s Recreation Services Director.
“The idea was to make their own neighborhood more skateable,” said Blum. “Adults have the luxury to go anywhere we want to skate, but students often don’t have access to cars or even bikes, and have to have opportunities where they are, so they don’t need a driver’s license to go somewhere good.”
Richfield High School Skate Club
When city leaders agreed that the expanded skate park was a worthy project, students got to work helping Parks and Rec staff apply for a county grant to cover half the expenses. Students wrote support letters and attended planning meetings. The Skate Club went on field trips around the Twin Cities to get ideas for the kinds of features they wanted the Augsburg Skatepark to include. “Their feedback about what was needed really drove the additions,” said Blum. Members of the Skate Club even weighed in on the park’s rules. The city hired an experienced, California-based company called Spohn Ranch to complete the build. (Spohn Ranch also built Gateway Skate Park in St. Paul two years ago.)
The result is a beautiful, newly-expanded skate park right in the center of Richfield!! Opened in August, the updated park has a lot more variety than before, with appeal to both entry-level and more advanced skaters.
Augsburg Skate Park Ribbon-Cutting
“There’s now a good balance between streetscape elements and ramps and transition spaces,” says Karl Huemiller, Richfield’s Recreation Services Director. “Previously, there were really only streetscape pieces; now, with all the transition spaces, you can really flow around the park.”
The park is also open to bikers and scooters, and Huemiller reports seeing a lot of scooter riders around the park as well as more advanced skaters than previously. “The idea was to expand the skill levels that could use the park,” says Huemiller. Members of the Skate Club felt that the previous design had a “high barrier to entry” because the streetscape elements were largely geared toward more experienced skaters and riders, and the new additions are better for those just starting out. Ironically, the expanded design has still ended up drawing more advanced skaters to the park, as well as newcomers to the sport. Huemiller explained that more variety of features will always draw a wider range of participants.
Blum says that his students are “very, very excited” about the additions. “They were saying, ‘This is exactly what we wanted!’” The park is nice and shady, making it comfortable even on hot summer days. He also reports that he’s seen positive feedback about the park’s additions from the rest of the skating community in the Twin Cities as well.
We’re excited about the success of the RHS Skate Club. What a great example of the positive things that can happen when students get invested in their own neighborhood.
It’s exciting to see what can happen when students get invested in their own neighborhood. Give the new park a try, and help us welcome “skate tourism” to Richfield!
