A skate park is one of the many new projects coming to the Capital Cascades Trail. The Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency Board of Directors (IA Board) approved the design plan for a skateable art project at its meeting on Thursday.
The Capital Cascades Trail is a multi-use paved trail that totals over four miles across downtown Tallahassee, including Franklin Boulevard, Cascades Park and the FAMU Way Corridor. The skateable art will be located near the intersection of FAMU Way and Pinellas Street in segment three of the trail.
“To reflect on back how much of a nuisance skateboarding has been seen in past decades and to bring it forward and say, no, this is something that we’re going to celebrate; it’s a good part of our community — that is significant,” Commissioner Kristin Dozier said.
Last year, the IA Board awarded the skateable art project to Team Pain, a Florida-based skate park design and construction company. A $1,091,800 contract was executed in August 2020.
Team Pain has designed and constructed 33 custom municipal skate parks in the state. The design process in Tallahassee will include community input into the project’s artistic vision.
“The original proposal to develop a skate park along Capital Cascades Trail came out of an effort to dissuade skateboarding on park features in Cascades Park including the Korean War Memorial,” staff reports. “Through conversations with the skate community, Blueprint staff determined that the 3D shape of the broken circle of life from the Korean War Memorial was the perfect shape for doing a skateboard trick and that if the shape was somewhere else, then the skateboarders would stop using the Memorial.”
Skateable art differs from traditional skate park designs because the design process emphasizes an artistic approach to skate park elements like ramps and bowls, enabling skate parks to also serve as public art.
“This design integrates into the adjacent Capital Cascades Trail, with equal emphasis and intentional consideration being given to the landscape design of the park as well as the skateable features,” staff reports. “Using similar materials and styles, the landscape and hardscape at the skateable art park will visually integrate into the existing Capital Cascades Trail, FAMU Way, and the trail around Coal Chute Pond.”
Staff reports that the skate park will include “an incredible snake run feature” that will be around 225 feet — the longest snake run in Florida. The feature was inspired by the FAMU Rattlers mascot.
Other projects underway along the Capital Cascades Trail are public restrooms, amenities around Coal Chute Pond and a History and Culture Trail celebrating surrounding neighborhoods.
Blueprint IA Board Approves $1 Million Capital Cascades Trail Skate Park Project added by Lexie Pitzen on
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Is this park open yet?
Look at all these probably sixty something year old people complaining about this. It is disgusting. Let me break this down for you in a way even the dumbest of you can understand. Having a skatepark gives youth something to do and gets them off the streets. They’re giving us a wall that we are free to graffiti as we please. They’re giving us all the street stuff we could ask for and telling us we can skate it to our heart’s content. You wanna talk about lawsuits? Well Newsflash. Skaters know that we give up all liability the MOMENT we step on a skateboard. No skater is going to sue the state because they fell and busted their tail. And if they tried, they’d lose. The youth finally get something we’ve been wanting forever and now all the old farts are mad about it. Well suck it up! Talking about how we don’t pay taxes? Hate to break it to you Alex, but if you have a job, you pay taxes. And I’m pretty sure 90% of the people who will skate this park have a job. Skating is an amazing way to de-stress after work or have some fun on your day off. You decrepit old Republicans think you’re the only people who pay taxes in this country. You aren’t. You think all skaters are Democrats? How about another newsflash. Most of us DONT EVEN CARE FOR POLITICS LIKE THAT! We’d rather just skate. And as for you, Snidely, with your snide remarks. What are you doing to help the minorities? What are you doing to help the economy? What are you doing to feed the homeless? You wanna talk about having no sense? No sense would be bashing something you know nothing about and using the same argument people like you use about everything you don’t like. If you don’t like what’s going on in your community, move. Simple as that.
Such negative comments, ugly on the inside to be talking like this.
Our elected nannies Blueprint Board is running through money like there is no pandimic, like we have full employment, like our black, other minorities, and poor white folk are not suffering in the biggest economic hit to our economey since the Great Depression.
And we are supposed to celebrate this expensive, dangerous law suit in waiting, totally unneeded Skate Park?
Priorities people priorities!!!
And furthermore its so stupid to try and justify this boondoggle because someone skated or might skate on the Korean War Memorial.
You all ain’t got no sense whatsoever.
Someone give Phil a cookie for that one. ?
Skateboarding is a low cost sport easily accessible to a wide swath of the community. This is government at its best. Naysayers are likely the overfed demographic that desperately needs physical exercise to keep them from clogging up the health system with heart disease and diabetes.
There should be more passive parks and pools for seniors not a skatepark in the highest crime rate area in the state. Is it accessible to billion dollar bridge to nowhere and Andrew Gillum’s paramour / partner in crime Adam Corey’s Edison restaurant paid for by our tax dollars? Our local Dems putting our hard earned tax dollars to work.
Morgan and Morgan; For the Morgans… are loving this. Say ‘ello to my little friend… personal injury litigation… at taxpayer expense no less. Get ready Tallahassee taxpayers… we’ll be writing some serious checks soon.
What a waste of our money! The folks who will be using this pay little or no taxes. I urge all elected officials in Leon County to be the first to use this artful skate park and bust your butt. I would pay for a picture of that.