16-05-2025
Tensions grind between City of Grass Valley, skate community ahead of skatepark demolition
GRASS VALLEY — Tensions are grinding between the local skate community and the City of Grass Valley. The city wants to demolish the long-standing Condon Skatepark and replace it with a modern, but smaller version.
Local skaters are fighting to keep it just as it is.
"Being a skateboarder and having been everywhere skating, this is a very large skateboarding community for the size of our population. It's enormous," said Graham Hayes, treasurer of the Grass Valley Skatepark Coalition.
Currently, Condon is a large skate park for a large skating community. The 20,000-square-foot skatepark is considered a landmark to many. Soon, it's going to lose a fourth of its size.
"It was considered one of the top 10 skateparks in California, and as time has gone on — it's 24 years old, going on 25 — it's not been maintained to any degree by the city, and so they found themselves in a position where they have to approach some level of attention to it," Hayes said.
The City of Grass Valley hired Grindline Skateparks Company to do an evaluation.
"Ultimately, the recommendation was that the existing skatepark was at the end of its lifetime and any repairs made to that skatepark were not permanent," said Zac Quentmeyer, deputy public works director for the city.
The two options were to renovate and upgrade the existing park or demolish it and start over. Based on the evaluation, the city says demolition will start on May 19.
"It's not good. It's a huge loss for the community," said rollerskater Violet Gillogley.
Skaters of all backgrounds joined forces to create the Grass Valley Skatepark Coalition. They say the park just needs some tender loving care. They've even been showing up at city council meetings for weeks.
"It's not in the public's best interest, not in the city's best interest to destroy existing infrastructure and replace it with something smaller with less space that less people can use," Hayes said.
"While we certainly appreciate the recent engagement that we had, we would appreciate it a little more if it had come sooner," Quentmeyer said. "The city did put the project on pause to address concerns, but ultimately, our council has made the decision to move forward with the contract."
The city says pulling out of the contract now would mean losing $175,000 already spent in the design phase, and a potential lawsuit from the company they hired.
I asked the deputy public works director why the park was being downsized.
"It's all driven by budget. The city has $1.5 million to spend, and $1.5 million will buy you 15,000 square feet of new concrete," Quentmeyer said.
The money is coming from a grant, but skaters say the smaller park could pose a safety risk.
"Because there's movement happening. So when there's movement happening on different skill levels, the risk level significantly increases exponentially in terms of who is at risk of being hurt," Hayes said.
While the city says they plan to move forward with the project on Monday, they're looking into creating a committee to come up with plans and funding to potentially expand the park further beyond the scope of this project.
Grass Valley Skate Coalition wants them to leave the park as is and build a new one in the empty space next to it.
"I'm in mourning. I got married here. My kids took their first steps here," Gillogley said. "Just trying to soak her up while I still can."
