The Boca Raton Skate Park could be rebuilt as a former golf club, but residents have already denounced the possible relocation with noise and safety concerns.
Tim Huxhold Skate Park, located at 400 Crawford Blvd., is currently on the land used in the city’s plans to overhaul the government campus, a 30-acre plot at the intersection of West Palmetto Park Road and Dixie Highway.
The redevelopment project will include apartments, offices, hotels, shops, restaurants and new government facilities. This requires the removal of current recreational facilities.
Now, city officials have to find new homes on skate parks, softball fields and tennis courts. That’s where Boca Raton Beach and the Parks area are intervening.
For many years, the district has been trying to decide what to put at the city’s former Ocean Breeze golf course, or North Park, as is now known. It features over 200 acres of Bocateca land between Dixie Highway and Interstate 95.
And now the city’s new skate park could become part of its modification, particularly at the southeast corner of North Park.
City officials have agreed to pay more than half of the cost to fund the construction of the new skate park. Also, Boca Raton-based Plant-ark, which helps the community design skate parks, will donate money to the design of the new park.
And district officials stressed that plans for the skate park are in the preliminary stages, but several residents living near the proposed site are being pushed back.
“This place is in our backyard. …If placed there, it will disrupt the lives of the residents of the area,” Sage Danilov, who lives along NW 2nd Avenue, said during a recent Boca Raton Beach and Parks District Conference.
Danilov also said he was worried about how the proximity of the railroad tracks to the proposed skate park creates a dissonance of noise and creates a dangerous situation if skate park teenagers play on track.
Danilov pitched a Spanish river athletic park between the North Military Trail and Interstate 95 as another location in the skate park. Other neighbors at the district meeting agreed with the idea.
Santiago Arias, who lives in the same apartment complex as Danilov, said it makes more sense to move the skate park to athletic parks on the Spain River.
“With the constant noise of skate parks (North Parks) and skates falling to the ground, it just creates more echoes,” he said during the meeting. “I am not opposed to moving the skate park.
Spend your days with Hayes
Subscribe to our free Stephenly newsletter
Columnist Stephanie Hayes shares thoughts, feelings and funny business with you every Monday.
You’re all signed up!
Want more free weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.
Check out all options
“I think it’s definitely something that needs to be kept in Boca town as it’s another outlet where teenagers do things outside of being involved with their phones, but when I heard they were on that corner I was frustrated and disappointed.”
Briann Harms, executive director of the district, told people during the meeting that “there are a lot of steps along the way” so people can share their opinions on the skatepark relocation during future public input meetings.
“I understand that skate parks are definitely not attractive, but as everyone knows, this doesn’t go through design plans. This board doesn’t approve of designs, etc.” “We’re probably going to North Park because the space here in Boca is limited.”
Last year, South Florida skateboarders who were worried that the city would remove skate parks entirely came together not only to be kept in the city, but also to improve. Additionally, last year, city officials discussed the future potential of skate parks and other recreational facilities during their annual planning sessions.
City parks and recreation officials recently identified other potential sites in North Park where softball fields and tennis courts can go, such as Boca Raton Community Middle School, University Woodlands Park along St Andrews Boulevard, University Woodlands Park next to Spain River Athletic Park near Boca Raton Airport, and Spain River Athletic Park along the South Military Trail.
Other parks may be considered in the future, but for now the most viable relocation sites have already been selected, including skate parks.
