03.22.08 - Construction

We have very good news to report. A lot of activity has been going on behind the scenes. Since we were not in the loop, we couldn't provide quicker updates - sorry about that. Anyway, for starters, the final design of the skatepark was formally approved awhile ago. Check out the Photos page if you want to see it. Second, a builder has been selected. To be honest, we have some concerns about the skatepark experience of the selected builder, but we will remain positive, optimistic, and hopeful that the builder will produce a state-of-the-art product as expected rather than some lumpy, kinked, jacked, and wacked concrete turd. Third, groundbreaking should occur very soon. In fact, some heavy equipment has been spotted at the worksite, which means one of two things: (1) construction will begin soon; or (2) the city will be digging up the wildflowers. Check out the Photos page if you want to see what the worksite looked like on March 21, 2008. If all goes well, we should be skateboarding the Carmel Valley Skatepark before daylight savings time ends this year!

12.22.07 - Another Delay!

The lack of communication and updates from the city has been frustrating to say the least. For some strange reason, it is extremely difficult to get straight answers to simple questions such as: when is groundbreaking? will the skatepark open in July 2008? is the project being delayed even further? Anyhow, we can't get a definite groundbreaking date from anyone, so we won't report anything this time - don't get your hopes up. We did receive word that the skatepark opening date has been moved back to "the end of summer 2008." Since we got this from an official source, we will update our calendar to reflect this date. We will keep our fingers crossed and will continue to monitor the progress of the skatepark.

09.28.07 - Project Schedule Revised
	As we mentioned awhile ago, the project has been delayed. The good news is that the final design plans were submitted a week or two ago. However, groundbreaking will not occur until December 2007, and opening day will not occur until July 2008 (unless the project gets expedited). The Calendar page has been updated to reflect this schedule change.

Conceptual Design Approval

The Carmel Valley Planning Board formally approved the concept design for the CVSP during its March 13, 2007 meeting. This is a significant milestone, and it means that we are well on our way. Check out the Photos page for a rendering of the concept design (more views will be posted soon, so keep checking back). Clover pool! Granite ledge! Brick bank! Old school drainage ditch with a wall ride! Step-up gap! Looks pretty good to me.

February 14, 2007 - Concept Design Plan

Site Design Group presented its conceptual design plan during last night's meeting. The concept plan is posted in the Photos section of this website. Note that the final design may differ from that shown in the concept plan (so all you bowlriders need not complain that the concept plan includes a bowl that looks just like the Encinitas clover). With this in mind, Carmel Valley skateboarders are encouraged to provide comments, feedback, and suggestions to Site Design Group as soon as possible because the goal is to have a final design before March 13, 2007. You can send your comments to: concepts "at" sitedesigngroup "dot" com (include "Carmel Valley Skatepark" in the subject line), or to us at skateboard "at" carmelvalleyskatepark "dot" com.

Updated Project Milestones
	The big news is that the project timeline for the skatepark has been revised. The goal is to have the skatepark completed by January 2008! See the calendar page for more details.

Design Workshop!

The first skatepark design workshop was held on January 23, 2007. The skateboarders in attendance were divided into five design groups. Each group created a layout using the actual site plan and paper cutouts of skatepark features that were sized to scale. At the end of the night, each group presented its design. Each group generated a balanced design that included a good mixture of transition features and street plaza features. Site Design Group will use our input to create preliminary designs, which will be reviewed and discussed during the next skatepark subcommittee meeting (scheduled for February 13, 2007). NOTE: images of the five workshop designs can be found on the Photos page.

Skatepark Designer = Site Design Group
	We are happy to announce that Site Design Group (SDG) has been selected as the skatepark design firm for the CVSP. SDG was one of several OUTSTANDING skatepark design firms that participated in the interviewing process, and we are sure that SDG will prepare a great all-terrain layout for the CVSP. You can check out the SDG portfolio of work at www.sitedesigngroup.com

Advertisement for Skatepark Design Consultants
	The city of San Diego has published its ad for the skatepark design consultant. We are not sure whether this signifies a departure from the process described in the last news entry; the city process is somewhat confusing to us. The city must RECEIVE submissions by August 3, 2006 (4:30 PM Pacific Time).

CONSULTANT REVIEW

ATTENTION SKATEPARK DESIGN FIRMS AND CONSULTANTS! We've been told that the city of San Diego will be using a list of consultants for this project. Interested consultants can contact the person mentioned below to learn how to get on the city's rotating list for consultants. There is a submittal and review process, so getting on the list takes some time. The contact info: John Mendivil, Consultant Services Coordinator Equal Opportunity Contracting, Purchasing & Contracting, City of San Diego, 1200 Third Ave., Suite 224, San Diego, CA 92101. Phone = (619) 533-3796, Fax = (619) 533-4474, email = jmendivil@sandiego.gov

Initial Project Schedule Released

We recently received the tentative project schedule from the city's Park Planning & Development department. This schedule reflects a "design-bid-build" project. The dates of all major milestones have been entered in the Calendar section of this website. If the long schedule concerns you, please don't shoot the messengers - we are only relaying this information to you. I'm told that this project schedule provides realistic time estimates and is based on similar city projects.

Summary of 5/9/06 Meeting

This meeting had an interesting flow. It began with a discussion of the design/build process to be used for the CVSP project (thanks to Jim Winter and Reza Taleghani for your presentation). We discussed the timing and several milestone steps in the process, such as the preparation and release of the Request for Qualifications ("RFQ"), the preparation and release of the Request for Proposals ("RFP"), the city's prequalification requirements, etc. We learned that the release date for the RFQ was tentatively scheduled for late November 2006, and asked the city representatives to investigate whether we could instead target July 1, 2006 as the release date. It sure would be nice to get this project moving sooner rather than later! After discussing this target date, we revisited the topic of preliminary design, the need to have a near-final design prior to release of the design/build RFP, and the need for community review and input regarding the design. This led to a discussion of design/build versus design/bid/build, and ultimately left us in a somewhat undecided state. At the end of the two-hour meeting, however, we concluded (I think) that the project ought to be a design/bid/build instead of a design/build. Consequently, the city representatives will be working on the RFQ language for the first step in the process, namely, the selection of a qualified skateboard park design firm or consultant. We are still shooting for a target date of July 1, 2006 for release of this RFQ. Stay tuned, and go skateboarding.

Summary of 4/11/06 Meeting

Brett Wilson of the Boys & Girls Club was in attendance to gather information and to make an impromptu presentation about the mission of the Boys & Girls Club and to express interest in having the Boys & Girls Club operate the CVSP for the city. Apparently, the Boys & Girls Club operates the Borrego Springs and Chula Vista skateparks. We were told that the RFP contract language should be ready for review within a month, which is great news because this is the first major step in the design process. It was nice to see some new faces in the crowd today.

Summary of 3/14/06 meeting

Here is a quick summary of what went down during the March 14 meeting. Representatives from the Encinitas YMCA facility discussed the possibility of the YMCA operating the skatepark through a contract with the city. The YMCA assured us that the city would be able to dictate the rules, hours, etc., which means the skatepark need not be operated in the same manner as the Encinitas YMCA skatepark - good news for those who want the Carmel Valley skatepark to be open for more than 2.5 hours a day on weekdays ;-) The YMCA seemed very interested and the skatepark subcommittee will consider this (along with other third party operators) as an option. Jim Winter, from the city's Park Planning and Development department, discussed the process for preparing the RFP for the skatepark contractor. The subcommittee will prepare qualification and initial design concept language for inclusion in the RFP. This will ensure that only a truly qualified skatepark specialist team can work on the project. We are hoping to get the RFP language squared away sooner rather than later. Basically, there is good momentum now, and we continue to make good progress.

Summary of 2/7/06 meeting
	This summary was created well after the fact and some details have been lost. At the 2/7/06 meeting we discussed the bidding process for retaining a skatepark design consultant, along with qualification language to be used in the RFP. We also discussed whether the CVSP will be a design/build or a design/bid/build project.

Summary of 1/10/06 meeting

Thanks to everyone who attended last night's meeting, especially those who brought family members, friends, and skaters for additional support. It seemed like the FBA budget committee was overwhelmed by all of the skaters and skatepark supporters! The bottom line: it appears as though the skatepark project is a GO and that it will be submitted as a formal project. The meeting went very well, and it appears as though a sum of money has been allocated to get the project off the ground. This initial sum of money will be used so that preliminary work by the city can begin and so that we can retain a skatepark consultant to begin the important design process. We were told that this step can be completed in the near future, possibly within a couple of months. A representative from Wells Fargo Bank was in attendance, and he asked whether the city would consider corporate sponsorships for the skatepark. This was well received by the FBA budget committee members. The FBA budget committee indicated that the complete skatepark project will be included in the Carmel Valley 2007 budget that is to be finalized by June 2006. We are a little concerned about waiting until 2007 to get this project off the ground, so we ought to be thinking of ways that we can fast track the project. The next critical step in the process is the selection of a qualified, experienced, and reputable skatepark consultant. In this regard, we will agressively participate in the process to ensure that the RFP for the skatepark consultant includes appropriate qualifications language. We have access to model skatepark RFPs and other resources, and we will do some research between now and the next skatepark subcommittee meeting.

Site inspection - 12/21/05
	Members of the CVSP subcommittee visited the proposed skatepark site today. We walked the site, wearing the required hard hats of course, paced off some dimensions, and confirmed that the size and shape of the plot is suitable for a skatepark.

Summary of 12/13/05 meeting

Thanks to those of you who attended the meeting last night. The good news is: we have finally reached a point where some real action is being taken. For example, a member of the Planning Board has approached the YMCA and the Boys/Girls Club to see whether they might be interested in operating the skatepark, which would remove the maintenance of the skatepark from the San Diego city budget. The skatepark subcommittee also asked several of us to visit the proposed site and to brainstorm a very rough "sketch" of what the skatepark might look like. We are NOT at the actual design stage yet . . . the subcommittee simply wants us to consider some options so that we can make a presentation to the Planning Board for funding. Once the project gets funded, we can take more significant steps.

Important meeting reminder

Reminder: the next skatepark subcommittee meeting is Tuesday, 12/13/05, at 6:00 PM. As usual, the meeting will be in the Carmel Valley library, which is located at 3919 Townsgate Drive. We would like to see more attendance by people who actually skateboard and know the difference between a 9-foot deep bowl with pool coping, a hubba ledge, a 6-stair rail, and a 13-foot tall vert ramp. We would like to see more attendance by people who appreciate that literally copying an existing skatepark design (in particular, a poor design) is not what we have in mind. We would like to see more attendance by experienced skateboarders and skatepark advocates who realize that a properly designed skatepark that provides interesting and challenging terrain for all skill levels can and should be built. We would like to see us drive this project forward with lots of momentum so that we will be able to skateboard in our neighborhood skatepark as soon as possible. Spread the word. Thanks.

11/3/05 - Where did our momentum go?
	As of this date, there had not been a skatepark meeting in more than three months, and we were trying to regain some lost momentum.

10/14/05 - New Carmel Valley Representative

For more than a year we had been working with Rich Geisler, former Carmel Valley representative for Council District 1, in connection with the CVSP project. Tyler Sherer replaced Rich around this time, and we met to get him up to speed on the status of the project. Although we were a little concerned that this transition would be a step backward in the process, Tyler assured us that he would continue to promote the skatepark idea.

Summary of 8/2/05 meeting

Last night's meeting began with the announcement that, according to the San Diego city Insurance & Risk Assessment Manager, all city-run skateparks must be supervised. This was news to us because the main project for the skatepark subcommittee last month was to gather the pros/cons for supervised and unsupervised skateparks. In fact, we still discussed that issue for most of the hour last night. At the end, even though we are strong advocates for free and unsupervised skateparks, we told everyone that if the skatepark indeed MUST be supervised, then so be it. In connection with supervision, we discussed annual costs and how the city might staff the CVSP.

We also discussed the possibility of getting an outside entity to oversee design and operation of the skatepark, in exchange for city funds for the build. For example, we discussed whether the Torrey Hills YMCA might be interested in partnering with the city. We then discussed the possibility of using a small 15,000 square foot parcel of land that is next to the picnic grass and soon-to-be street hockey field in the Carmel Valley Rec Center. We didn't seriously consider this option after learning that this parcel has already been allocated for another use. We then discussed the possibility of using the parcel of land in the far back corner of the CV Rec Center - there is currently a horseshoe pit (rarely used) and a grassy area there. It is tucked in the corner near the middle school and near an apartment complex. If the skatepark is located in the Rec Center, then we wouldn't need to worry about parking and restrooms, and we may be able to use the existing staff as part time supervision if the city requirement for supervision holds up. We also briefly considered whether the skatepark could be located elsewhere. For example, we discussed the Linear Park, which will be located below the tall power lines - the site across the street from the Pacific Athletic Club was mentioned. So now we have three sites in mind: next to the police station; on the top of the Rec Center; and the Linear Park. We agreed to do a pro/con analysis on these three sites and to make an informal presentation to the "normal" Carmel Valley Planning Board. We will be proposing the use of ALL three sites as a network of skateparks. At the end of the meeting, we again expressed some frustration with the process and told everyone that we need to be more focused on progress and forward movement. We don't think we've made significant progress over the last four months, and time is ticking. The next meeting will be Tuesday, September 13, at 6:00PM, in the Carmel Valley Library. Please do your best to attend next month, and don't be afraid to speak your mind!

Summary of June 2005 meeting
	The first official skatepark subcommittee meeting went well, and there was no opposition at all. We identified a plot of land, and now we are discussing issues of parking, cost, fundraising, very initial design ideas, etc.

Project History
	Click on the following link to read a little background history. History