Quilcene skatepark project stoked to receive top-ranking
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This initial design of the Quilcene skate park was set to be closer to the street. While maintaining the same features, the park will be moved back further towards the forest and incorporate some of the trees into its new shape. Photo courtesy of Brady MacDonald [/caption]
A project in Quilcene has been targeted to receive up to $900,000 to build a new skatepark. Local skater and Catkin Coffee Roastery & Cafe owner Brady MacDonald has been working with a team of friends for over a year to develop the idea, with a big victory in sight.
A new funding program in Washington State called the Community Outdoor Athletic Facilities (COAF) grant program provides money to buy land and develop or renovate outdoor athletic facilities serving youth and local communities. The Quilcene skate park project is ranked #2 in the western region to receive these funds.
“With our ranking, we were led to believe we can be pretty optimistic about the project getting funded, but we won’t know until October, ” MacDonald said in an interview with the Beacon.
COAF allows applicants to request grants ranging from $50,000 to $1.2 million. The total amount of funding available for the current grant round is $24 million, with $12 million available now and another $12 million potentially available in July 2025. The funds are allocated to five regions of the state based on their population.
“We only have a few million allocated to this region, so we’re asking for a lot of the money for this region,” MacDonald noted.
As the COAF program only just began in 2024, MacDonald said there is no clear answer as to whether funds will be spread out to everyone who made it through the initial application acceptance or given entirely to the first person in line with whatever’s left over to the second.
Of the almost $2 million available in this region for the first year of the grant program, the only project ranked higher is asking for the full $1.2 million allowed. If that project is fully funded, it would leave the Quilcene skate park somewhat short.
Luckily, skaters are good at getting creative and have plans for plenty of possibilities.
“There’s a few scenarios where we get awarded enough money to start building right away, but there’s also another scenario where it might be a few years,” MacDonald said. “We’re asking for lights, we’re asking for a shade structure, and a lot of things that are really great, but we can build a skatepark with less money.”
According to MacDonald, the earliest they could begin building is in the summer of 2025.
A wild ride
Getting to this point has taken a great deal of collaboration.
MacDonald first met Asa Clifford at a county commissioners meeting years ago, and the friends bonded with a larger group while volunteering at the Quilcene food bank.
“Asa and I, and probably ten other people, became friends during this time where the food bank was this place during the pandemic where you were seeing people outside of your general community, seeing some of these old-timers you wouldn’t normally see,” MacDonald said.
MacDonald also began attending the Quilcene and Brinnon Connections meetings in 2022 which were organized by the Quilcene Lions Club.
“It was basically welcoming all these different organizations and individuals to meet each other, discuss, and connect these two communities,” MacDonald said.
At those meetings, he participated in a funding discussion about the county’s COVID relief money, which it had received from the American Rescue Plan Act.
“That wasn’t allocated for any very clearly specific thing, but was given to the commissioners to decide what kind of infrastructure we want,” MacDonald said.
The skaters saw their chance to drop in and began doing community outreach. They quickly received 150 signatures from students at the local school, encouraging those funds to go towards a new skatepark.
While they initially asked for a much larger amount, the project received $20,000 to start the design process.
Of course, the government doesn’t give tens of thousands of dollars in grants to just anyone, so the friends partnered with fiscal sponsor StrongerTowns, a Port Townsend non-profit 501(c)3 organization. Stronger Towns is a rural community social impact incubator that encourages the development of innovative solutions to the unique issues of small towns. Other projects that they’ve supported include The Benji Project and Skillmation. They also share those solutions with other rural communities.
Once the money was secured, it was used to hire Grindline Skateparks Inc. who specialize in the planning, design, and construction of cast-in-place concrete skateparks.
“They’ve done hundreds of projects, so they know what’s up,” MacDonald said. “They know the northwest, and they know the climate. They know these towns, and they know about the grant process.”
“They’ve been a huge resource for us, giving us really great ideas about how to move forward, and technical help in a lot of different regards outside of just skatepark design and builds. They’ve become a really great partner,” they added.
Grindline met with community members to discuss what design features the park should have, and came up with a series of drawings to submit for the COAF grant, but one more partner was still required.
To receive COAF funding, they needed a fiscal sponsor with experience in outdoor recreation, but Stronger Towns had never worked on a park project. That’s when the Olympic YMCA stepped in.
“We reached out to the YMCA, and they were on board,” MacDonald said. “They did it right away and were super supportive, and allowed us to use them as a resource and have fiscal sponsorship through them.”
Since applying for the grant, plans are still in motion. The original design is being modified to move further back into the forest which will involve a change of shape.
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A few of the features planned for the park. Photo courtesy of Brady MacDonald [/caption]
“We have a new mock-up of where it is,” MacDonald said. “It’s kind of cooler because we can have the skatepark set within the woods in a nice way so that there’s shade around it.”
“It’s going to be set within the landscape a little bit better in my opinion,” they added.
Landing it
While only 7,500 square feet, the design will feature the usual bowl with its own unique elements, as well as a pump track allowing for inclusivity.
“Part of our original ask was that this has to be all-wheel accessible. It’s going to be something for everyone,” MacDonald said.
A pump track is a track for wheeled sports equipment that, when ridden properly, does not require peddling or pushing, but a “pumping” action to maintain momentum.
“I’m excited for my six-year old to be cruising this pump track,” they added.
While not featured in the original drawing, they also plan to add elements of timber and wood, incorporating details like artful sculptural elements.
“We talked about representing the forest and the rivers to the tidelands, having elements that represent the special geography of this landscape and why it’s been such an important place for humans for thousands of years,” MacDonald said. “It will be fun to get into making this really Quilcene and speak to this place specifically.”
And just because its smaller size in comparison to the Port Townsend skatepark, doesn’t mean it will be any less fun.
“Skaters love to have a variety of different spots so it will be used by people outside our little region, for sure,” MacDonald said. “It’s a really advanced art form now even compared to when the skatepark in Port Townsend was built. Not to say we’re going to have a way better park, but I kind of feel like our little park is going to be maybe more fun to skate. No beef, of course.”
