The Trinidad Skatepark Renovation Saga
This is a long read, grab a cup of cocoa and snuggle up! it's about to get dramatic! Also, this is an active work in progress and is not complete yet...
Bringing awareness to the dangerous conditions of the skatepark...
In 2023, we moved to Trinidad from Arvada, CO - where access to skateparks was greatly supported. In fact, you could definitely say we were spoiled - being in the Denver Metro area is an ideal situation for any skateboarder to have such access to a variety of skateparks!
We decided to move to Trinidad in early 2023 and chose Trinidad because of the beauty & affordability of Southern Colorado and an existing local Grindline Skatepark. We were stoked to have the Grindline gem as our home park just a 5 minute drive from our new house. We were officially in Trinidad in April 2023 - After skating the park almost every day the first month of being in Trinidad, the honeymoon eyes started fading as we realized the skatepark was in bad shape. Although it was 20 years old at the time, it was obvious the skatepark had not been maintained and obviously neglected - there was trash everywhere and a lot of bad graffiti. In reality, the skatepark is in a dangerous condition from the lack of maintenance and upkeep by the city and community. After meeting and skating with the locals, it was confirmed the city neglected the park and allowed it to become a "partyhole" for kids.
We took things into our own hands and began cleaning the park and covering up the graffiti. The locals were grateful for the most part, however, after sharing the clean-up efforts in the local Facebook group, the city staff called us in for a meeting in May 2023. We were told to stop all maintenance being conducted at the skatepark. The city began showing interest in renovating the park and even adding new beginner features and called a group meeting led by the then Communication Coordinator. The sheriff, city manager, director of outdoor recreation, etc were all in attendance. Response to the issues (dangerous conditions, repairs needed and lack of maintenance) and possible solutions were mixed among the group. Some showed enthusiasm and others were not "present" during the meeting, one being the Director of Outdoor Recreation - which was confusing because it seems they would be excited to have community support for such a large project that was obviously long overdue.
After the meeting, the person in the Communications Coordinator position at the time was leading the project and showed great enthusiasm with ideas for the future of the skatepark. She was to follow-up with the newly created volunteer team and coordinate efforts with the City Staff in order to get Grindline Skateparks on site to do an assessment of the current state of the skatepark. However, approximately 2 months went by and we heard nothing from the Communications Coordinator regarding updates regarding the assessment and other tasks she was overseeing. After hearing nothing for 2 months, in July 2023 we called for an update. This is when things took a turn. She stated she had not completed anything due to her and another staff member (not associated with the project) being called "Satan Worshippers" online. When questioned what this had to do with the skatepark and her not completing the tasks and ultimately delaying progress with the repairs needed, she became aggressive. I reminder her that she is talking to a volunteer and not a colleague or friend. Things went downhill after this. She began regulating our online updates to the community. We held complete transparency on the progress (or lack of) with the skatepark. We felt it completely necessary to keep people informed on what was happening. She and others at the City obviously did not like this.
In the meantime, we are spreading the word about the conditions of the skatepark and our dealings with the City. EVERY SINGLE PERSON we talked to said "yep that is how it goes, they act like they want to do such and such and then just stop giving you updates" "they basically just want you to go away and will ignore you until you do". This was surprising and disheartening but we knew we could not let this fall to the wayside since the skatepark is dangerous and a huge liability in its current condition.
So we kept pressing for an update. The Communications Coordinator then told us we needed to do a presentation to the Parks and Rec Advisory Board about the skatepark. SO that's what we did. I spent several hours preparing a PowerPoint presentation with current conditions of the skatepark, what it would take to refurbish the skatepark, new features that could be added and ways to remedy the constant graffiti. We invited interested people from the community to meet beforehand to discuss the project and to introduce ourselves at Mutiny. A few people showed up and it looked like we had great support. I let them check out the presentation and discussed what our experience had been dealing with the city to date. It was confirmed that this is how most projects go and that they just want people to go away...This was when I started realizing how convoluted the project was about to get.
The meeting with the advisory group was at Space to Create. Things got really weird. We showed up and there was a nice group of people to show support. The Communications Coordinator pulled Wrex to the side and just kind of whispered to him about what was going to happen. Her behavior was very awkward for a few of us standing there waiting to be acknowledged by her. I figured it had to do with him being the "professional skateboarder" as she loved to boast. I decided I would go get set-up - however nobody could get the presentation electronics to work. I was told I would not be able to do my presentation and would just have to wing it. I said I was going to do the presentation and people could gather around my computer, but that I spent a lot of time on it and was going to present it. It was clear to me the Communications Coordinator did not want me speaking much less presenting. She continued to talk over me, rather than directly as if I was not even in the room. She kept saying "Mr. Cook will do this and Mr. Cook professional skateboarder will do that". It was ridiculously unprofessional and I had never experienced City staff acting in such a manner. It was clear she had drama with other people in the room. I honestly felt she had issues with me for some reason. She interjected throughout my presentation but I stayed focus and finished. She also told us we need to get 3 companies to provide proposals by the end of the month because there was a 2024 budget meeting happening the first part of August..We were shocked at the short notice but luckily we had already reached out to several companies to see if they would be interested. It was obvious many people, including city staff and advisory board members did not understand how dangerous the park actually is. Most everyone in the room was grateful for the information. Afterwards, the Communications Coordinator invited Wrex to have a drink with her at the well LOL I invited myself and we went to the Well and we sat on the back patio where we got to hear about this or that person and their problems while she hit two vapes and drank a vodka mule from a can. It was weird.
I started a Facebook page called Trinidad Skatepark Collective so that we could start doing updates and create transparency for the project with the community.
So after the meeting, it seemed like things would start to move. The Communications Coordinator sent an agenda about a week later asking for anyone interested from the public to join the meeting - here is the context of the agenda:
Skatepark Meeting to Establish the Skatepark Committee
July 27th at 6:00pm MST
At Trinidad Skatepark Beshoar Ave., Trinidad
The following items will be covered at this meeting/work session:
1. Establish a Skatepark Committee to work with the City and Parks & Rec Advisory Board
led by City Manager Steve Ruger
2. Evaluate the damage and repairs needed at the Skatepark
3. Create an urgent list of repairs to attain quotes for the Scope of Work
4. Discuss a 20-year Anniversary Celebration
5. Assign tasks to committee members
6. Schedule the 2nd Committee Meeting
Anyone from the City and/or the public who would like to participate in the committee work for
the renovation of the skatepark is welcome to attend.
If you are interested in attending, but cannot on short notice, please let Anissa Roth know by
emailing at anissa.roth@trinidad.co.gov. We hope to have everyone interested in attendance,
but we understand if you are unable, so we will look to connecting you with the committee
directly to bring you up to speed on the first meeting.
I posted the update on the Facebook page regarding the "public meeting" and instantly received a phone call from the Communications Coordinator stating this was not a public meeting even though the location is at a public park. It was apparent she was monitoring our social media accounts and wanted to regulate what we were sharing.
We had the meeting and several people from the community were there along with the City Manager and Communications Coordinator. We walked the park and talked about what types of repairs were needed and an overall refurbishment would ensure the park to last another 10-15 years. We also discussed future features that could be added as beginner elements and to update the street area explaining the way it was built by a local contractor is not functional. We also were told to give a short list of quick items that could be accomplished now like a 2nd garbage can since it disappeared, some mitigation of the overgrowth around the bowl, etc. The meeting went well.
The following day a list of quick fixes were sent over to the Communications Coordinator and our "liaison" as instructed.
The initial items we wanted to have PW works take care of are listed below:
1. Provide more suitable garbage cans with lids, similar to what you see in other city parks - we think there should be a few placed around the park - we tend to see a lot of garbage in the parking lot so maybe one by the restrooms, then one at the north entrance of the park, one by the pavilion on the street side, then one up by the street area - should help, hopefully!
2. Clean up the broken glass/various trash around the edge of the skatepark
3. Is it possible to have the high weeds mowed to the west of the park? Just a thought... it's pretty overgrown.
I'm reaching out to "Keep Nature Wild" to see if we can schedule a community event for garbage clean-up which would be around the entire park.
I received no response. No 2nd garbage can was ever provided.
On July 31 I sent a recap of the meeting to the committee and city staff:
Good morning,
On behalf of the skatepark "collective", we want to thank Steve and Anissa for meeting with us last Thursday at the skatepark to get a first hand look at the condition of the park. At the meeting we discussed the needed repairs, various methods for repairing the park and also future upgrades that would be beneficial to the park in order to meet the needs of all skaters from beginners to advanced. We discussed immediate items that could be completed by the Public Works Department and we were instructed to prepare a list of "hot items". Below is a re-cap list of skatepark needs.
I also want to mention over the weekend we met a group of skateboarders from Albuquerque that drove up just to skate the park - and they were happy to hear the City is going to make the park a better place! We just want to thank you for hearing the needs of the skateboarders, local and from afar!
Improvement points for skatepark:
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Clean up and addition of animal proof garbage cans at the entrances - there is now only one garbage can. It seems one was taken from the park last week.
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The Collective is hosting a community park clean up day sponsored by "Keep Nature Wild" - this group will provide gloves/bags for trash collection, help promote and organize the event. Ideally we would like this to happen mid-to late August (depending on everyone's schedule - this would happen on a Saturday morning before the heat) to give us enough time to prepare. Join A Cleanup (keepnaturewild.com)
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Repair and refurbish current state of the park by a skatepark company - possible upgraded fence/lighting and replacement of paver area with skate features
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Replace current "street" area
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Addition of new features - pump track, beginner bowl
Also, the following items were discussed and we are curious if there is a timeline for having the following items established?
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Steve Ruger mentioned there is funding that could be used for the park repairs since they are urgent - do we know when it will be determined the amount of funding/availability for repairs?
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A geotech is to be hired to assess the structural soundness of the park - is there a timeline for this occurring?
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Once funding is determined, will bids be open for skatepark contractors to put in a bid?
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Is the City still planning on doing a 20-year celebration? We are concerned because we are losing our window in the summer months and just want to know if the "collective" will be involved in planning that celebration.
Thank you again for hearing us on the needs of the skatepark! Please let us know if anything is needed from our end!
I received one response from the entire email group which was from the head of the Trinidad Trails Alliance to indicate which days she was committed for trail work and the Purgatoire Watershed clean-ups. I responded the date we picked for the first clean-up would be 8/26 which appeared to not be in conflict with the aforementioned dates.
Again received no response.
We posted updates and whenever I would "hear" something about the project, I added an update.
The Communications Coordinator would call after anything I posted and tell me my information wasn't accurate. I let her know she is not providing information so we are getting it from any source willing to share or help us. She informed me any information on Facebook would have to go through her. That's when I informed her and made a public announcement that we are not affiliated with the City, nor work for the City, therefore would not be required to go through anyone at the City before providing updates (or lack of) for the project. This is when she started excluding us from anything to do with the skatepark. Understandably, there was a lot of unnecessary tension for something that would ultimately benefit the entire community. However, relations digressed significantly due to the Communications Coordinators complete lack of professionalism and follow-through. Instead she created drama with city staff and her interpersonal relationships to the point we were now being blamed for no progress on the skatepark - City owned property. I have never experienced such interaction with any city official in any place we have worked on a skatepark project. What everyone was telling us about how the project would go was coming true!
STAY TUNED, MORE TO COME