The plan to convert an out-of-use old city pool in the crook of a freeway onramp in Echo Park into a cool skate park for the children was relatively modest when proposed this past fall, but now the city has decided to go a little bigger, says Eastsider LA.
The final design chosen for the eventual park just south of the Echo Park Lake is now "more than twice the size originally envisioned"—7,000 square feet instead of the 3,000 expected. The plans includes a "mini-bowl" in the center of the park and a "street style" design around the bowl. Notes from one of the community outreach meetings for the park say that the elements will be geared toward both beginning- and intermediate-level skaters.
The park will be protected from the freeway by a combination of guardrails and trees along the perimeter, as well as "heavy gauge chain link fence."
But the bigger size means that the city will now have to look around to find more money for the expanded skate park, which was originally expected to cost $500,000. That funding came from Proposition K funds, which are set aside for parks projects.
Still, even without the cash, a rep for the Bureau of Engineering tells ELA that project architects "HMC and [skate park design firm] Site Design are proceeding with the final design, while the additional funds being sought. No construction will begin until such time as such funds are identified and allocated to the project."
Once the money's found, the park is expected to take a year or so to complete.
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