New Northeast Skate Park to open soon

Area residents may soon be able to enjoy the new Northeast Skate Park, which officials say is 85 percent done and expected to be completed in late April. The city said when it is completed, it will be the largest skate park in the region.

The finishing touches are being put in place, such as caulking the concrete joints and painting the metal plates and rails, and all the major parts of the park are already done. It will feature several different types of terrain and obstacles, including a street-style and snake course. The total budget for the project is $1.6 million, and is expected to come in within that figure.

Rick Venegas, the city’s quality of life bond projects manager, said that the park will offer challenges for skaters of all skill levels.

“This is going to be one of the more elite skate parks in the region,” Venegas said. “Our contractor is Metlock Commercial Contractors, but their subcontractor is California Skate Parks, and they’ve set up X-Games competitions all over the world.”

Venegas said that there aren’t any plans for a grand opening just yet, but he expects that the city will make it a big deal.

And the Northeast Skate Park is just one of several quality of life bond projects in the city that are moving along towards completion.

El Pasoans have been able to see movement on other projects, like the groundbreaking in San Jacinto Plaza held a couple of weeks ago. The plaza will be getting improved facilities and new landscaping.

Two other projects are the Eastside Sports Park and Eastside Regional Park. They’ll feature eight or more new fields, and a competition-level swimming facility, for a combined budget of $58 million. Locations for both projects were approved by City Council last month, and the city is now working towards design and starting construction within the next few months.

Most projects in the 2012 Quality of Life Bond are still in the land acquisition or design phase, and Venegas said there will be a steady flow of completions the city moves through the stages of the bond plan.

“We’re in the first year of a nine-year plan – nine or ten-year plan,” Venegas said. “So we’ve got – again, we’ve had small construction projects, did some parks improvements, but we’re moving along on all the other ones.”