116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Iowa City plans $1.3 million skate park upgrade, expansion
Project aims to make Terrell Mill better place for experts and beginners
Jonah Marcussen, 24, flies over a ramp Friday afternoon at the Terrell Mill Skate Park in Iowa City. The city is undertaking a $1.3 million update of the skate park. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)
Sebastian Anderson braves the afternoon heat Friday to put in some time at the Terrell Mill Skate Park in Iowa City. The city is undertaking a $1.3 million update of the skate park. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)
IOWA CITY — The skate park at Terrell Mill State Park in Iowa City is being expanded to make the park more inviting to beginner and intermediate users.
The city is applying to a $200,000 grant from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to help fund the approximately $1.3 million project.
The work will upgrade and expand the park, built in 2002 at 1209 N. Dubuque St., to allow for more uses, including roller skating, scooters and bicycles.
The design concepts feature a “pump track,” shallower bowls for beginners, deeper bowls for more experienced users and more street-like elements, such as rails.
The city held public input meetings earlier this year to help guide the park’s design, according to Julie Seydell Johnson, Iowa City’s director of parks and recreation.
The $1.3 million cost could be adjusted higher or lower, depending on how funding for the project goes, Seydell Johnson said.
The skate park, as it currently stands, is outdated and not very friendly to beginners, Seydell said, so this project will make the “well-used” amenity better for both its current users and any newcomers.
“It’s a really exciting project, right off Dubuque (Street), so people will see it right as they come into the community,” Seydell Johnson said. “We have a really good, loyal band of users that uses the facility, and I think it’s time to update it and expand it.”
City staff hopes to begin the bidding process for the project in the fall. If all goes according to plan, construction could start in the spring and be completed in the summer, Seydell Johnson said.
Community response
Jonah Marcussen of Iowa City began skating at the Terrell Mill Skate Park 12 years ago when his stepbrother introduced him to skateboarding.
While his stepbrother was comfortable enough to skateboard at the Iowa City park, Marcussen was shy about skating in public while he was learning. Instead, he practiced skateboarding in his mom’s garage or around residential streets.
Marcussen, now 24, has grown his skating skills and said he now considers himself an expert.
“I’ve been skating this park for 12 years since I was a kid, and it’s the same,” Marcussen said. “There hasn’t been a single change to it. They haven’t made it better in any way or worse.”
The skate park has a streetlike aesthetic that Marcussen said he appreciates, especially the graffiti that covers the concrete.
However, the skate park suffers from some issues Marcussen would like to see fixed, including cracks and harsh transitions from the flat ground and vertical bowl walls.
The skate park also can be intimidating to beginners because of its steep bowls, which is something Marcussen said he experienced when he started skateboarding.
The proposed upgrades and expansion of the skate park would fix those issues and likely attract users of all ages and skill levels and grow the local skate scene, Marcussen said.
“Skateboarding is already hard, and extreme sports are already really challenging,” Marcussen said. “Having a good park to where you get a little bit of everything so you can actually progress is going to attract more people.”
Comments: (319)-265-6849; isabelle.foland@thegazette.com
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