The county’s current skate park is located at the James City County Recreation Center, on the site for the future government complex. Already considering expanding or renovating the park, the county took advantage of the opportunity to create a new skate park at the Warhill Sports Complex.
Alister Perkinson, Assistant Director with James City County Parks and Recreation, said the county is working with Spohn Ranch Skateparks and Kimley-Horn to design the new skate park at the site.
“We currently have great attendance at our current skate park, but it’s a little behind the times,” Perkinson explained. “It doesn’t flow quite as well as a lot of the modern skaters or rollerbladers or BMX bikers would like, and we’ve seen just quite a lot of support from the public on having one of these facilities.”
Perkinson noted when the county was working on the master plan for the area, almost 50% of the public feedback was for a skate park.
There will be three opportunities for the public to offer their input:
- Thursday, Sept. 4, 6-8 p.m.— James City County Recreation Center, Rooms A, B & C
- Thursday, Oct. 9, 6-8 p.m.— James City County Recreation Center, Rooms A, B & C
- Thursday, Oct. 30, time TBA — Virtual (follow on Facebook and Instagram to stay updated)
“[Spohn Ranch] is going to be looking for information on what kind of features people want, how it flows, but then also some more obvious things like whether or not we’ll have lights and that sort of thing,” Perkinson said.
The county noted the project has gotten support from a local nonprofit partner group called the Triangle Skateboard Alliance. The group offers skateboarding camps in the summer, and is said to have been a huge help in getting the word out and to engage skateboarders, BMX bikers and inline skaters throughout the area.
Members of the community are welcome to fill out the online survey, which will be open through September on the official James City County website. For more information, visit the James City County website.
