After months of planning, Steamboat Springs Park and Recreation has finalized its improvement plan for a new skatepark at Howelsen Hill and determined a tentative schedule to move forward with the project. 

As planned, the new pieces will replace the existing Howelsen Hill Skate Park and include more than 40 features while utilizing different skating elements such as ramps, rails, boxes, ledges and stairs. 

The tentative plan is to take down the existing skatepark in mid-August and begin the installation of the new park as early as September. 

The park will be funded through the city’s annual capital improvement projects budget process. 

In an effort to satisfy the community’s wants, Parks and Recreation organized a steering committee of local residents varying in age and experience to discuss what the new skate park needed. The committee worked in conjunction with a leading skatepark designer, American Ramp Company, to create a concept for the new park. 

Pro skateboarders and designers, Cody McEntire and Julia Brueckler brought those ideas to life by organizing the park with each feature in a necessary spot.  

In December, Steamboat Springs City Council determined a skatepark makeover was necessary, as the existing park has required continuous repairs, replacements and maintenance for safety reasons. 

The ramps have been reskinned and resurfaced several times, but the situation has reached the point where constructing a new park was seen as a better use of the money. 

Parks and Recreation was on an early 2023 deadline to approve the plan for the project because it can take seven months for designers to build the features off-site. 

Once the features are complete, they will be shipped to Steamboat and installed. The park will not be expanded and will utilize the exact dimensions of the current one, while offering more to its users in a safer environment.

To reach Tom Skulski, call 970-871-4240, email tskulski@SteamboatPilot.com.