Cedar Rapids sets up temporary skate park in Time Check

CEDAR RAPIDS — Local skaters will be able to use temporary equipment at Time Check Park while the city’s only permanent skate park remains closed for flood control work.

As temperatures warm, the Parks and Recreation Department this week installed temporary skate park equipment on the basketball court at Time Check Park, 1131 Fifth St. NW. The site will serve as a place to practice skateboard moves while a new Riverside Skatepark is under construction.

The skate park and playground at Riverside Park are being moved closer to C Street SW as part of the Czech Village 12th Avenue SW (Riverside Park) detention basin project.

That work includes the first phase of a $20 million detention basin, pump station and flood wall project adjacent to the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library.

The temporary skate park was chosen based on a survey from last fall. It will be closed when the new skate park opens late this summer.

“We are excited to provide a place for skate park users as they wait for the new skate park at Riverside Park,” Parks and Recreation Director Hashim Taylor said in a news release. ”We know they are eager to get back outside and skate.”

Installation of the temporary equipment answers calls from local skaters for the city to provide them with a place to skate while the new site is being built.

The equipment — a mix of quarter pipes, fun boxes, manual pads and grinding kits — is portable and can be used for clinics and other events in the future.

The skate park will be open during regular park hours — 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. The location has no lights, so the city urges caution to those skating in early morning and evening hours.

Also, skaters should not use the equipment when it’s wet or when temperatures fall below 32 degrees based on the manufacturer’s recommendation. For updates on the Riverside Skatepark, sign up at CityofCR.com/Subscribe.

Plans for a larger “destination” skate park in the Time Check area remains years away from coming to fruition, but staff have said they’d seek feedback as part of the planning process for a greenway along the Cedar River.

Rob Davis, city flood control program manager, has said the Riverside project is funded through Iowa Flood Mitigation funds.

The state funding deal allows Cedar Rapids to keep 70 percent of the increase in state sales tax generated within the city, up to $15 million, for use within that budget year toward work on the $750 million permanent flood control system.

Iowa Flood Mitigation dollars are “use it or lose it,” so the city would not be able to put funds for the Riverside skate park relocation toward another facility.

Plus, city officials say this plan will allow for the city to eventually have two skate parks — Riverside, built in the 1990s, as well as a new destination park — instead of just the one.

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