The Willamette Valley receives upwards of 50 inches of precipitation a year.  Between December and February, the average monthly rainfall can vary between seven and nine inches and it isn’t uncommon to have 60 straight days of rain.  Even in the driest months, Eugene and the Willamette Valley can receive up to two inches of rain.  With such a wet climate, a covered skatepark is just what the city of Eugene needs to promote year round skating; but based on recent events, building a skatepark will do much more than provide a covered place for skaters to congregate during the winter months.

The ‘recent events’ link above will direct you to a story about a 36-year old homeless man who was stabbed and killed in the proposed location of the new skatepark under the Washington-Jefferson bridge.  Now, you might be thinking, “Homicide?  Why would the city build a skatepark in an area with this kind of activity, a park literally infested with homeless people?”  And to answer that question we ask, “Why should we let these kind of activities, like homicide and loitering, continue?”

Skateboarders have a unique way of policing themselves and the surrounding areas.  If anything, building a skatepark would bring a positive energy to the Washington-Jefferson park, an energy that could squash the negative energy perpetrated by its current occupants.  For an extended list of why a city center skatepark is good for the local community, please check out the Skater for Eugene Skateparks site.

You see, this is an exciting time for Eugene skaters.  We have several design meetings with Dreamland Skateparks over the next couple months and once the design is finalized, it’s only a matter of time before contractors break ground, Dreamland works their magic, and the park opens up; it’ll be here before you know it.

And what about the homelessness?  Unfortunately, building a park won’t solve that problem, it merely pushes it to another part of town.  Maybe the new park will spark in interest among the W-J locals?  Only time will tell.  With so much rain in the Willamette Valley, we can see why the homeless community has chosen the Washington-Jefferson bridge as a gathering place.  Soon, it’ll be the gathering place for skaters.