Closer look: Downtown Rockford may get new concrete skatepark as part of Davis Park plans

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A skate park proposed as part of the revamp of Davis Park would give the city’s skateboard scene a spot that sets itself apart in both its design and location, local skateboarders say.

The plan calls for building the city’s first concrete skate park near the south end of Davis Park, 320 S. Wyman St., just north of the railroad crossing along the Rock River.

Related: New $15.5M plan could have long-awaited revamp of Rockford’s Davis Park complete in 2026

The park features quarterpipes, a banked hip, stairs, rails, kicker ramps and ledges on multi-colored concrete. There is also a wooden 4-foot mini half pipe on the north end of the skate park. The differing colors of concrete play both an aesthetic and practical role, helping skaters with visibility so they can easily identify changes in the features.

Its location in the heart of downtown will benefit both the local skateboard scene and businesses in the area, according to a handful of skateboarders we interviewed for this story. Some aldermen, however, have raised concerns about building and maintaining the skate park, and whether it’s the right priority for Davis Park. A decision has been delayed until next month.

“The cities with a downtown skate park are the cities where skateboarding grows the most,” said Connor LaBorde, a 33-year-old youth minister at Stateline Youth for Christ who has been skateboarding for roughly 20 years. “Skateboarding is such a communal thing. You go to the skate park because you want to engage with people throughout the day who are skating obstacles different than you, who are looking at the obstacles different than you. Having a central skate park … you want to take in the culture of all these different people going to skate.”

The design for the park was developed by rider-owned business American Ramp Company and Madison-based SmithGroup architects. They gathered feedback from multiple local riders, including celebrated filmmaker Bing Liu, a Rockford native whose skateboard-centric documentary “Minding the Gap” was nominated for an Academy Award in 2018.

“I’m thrilled that Rockford’s getting a public skatepark downtown,” Liu said in an email exchange with the Rock River Current. “When I started skating in middle school, our only access to skate parks were if we could scrounge a ride to the PIT (where we’d also have to come up with cash to pay for entrance) or all the way out to Belvidere.”

The downtown skatepark was also long advocated for years by Alicia Neubauer, who died from breast cancer in April 2020 at age 41. Neubauer, an architect by trade, had also run Ground Floor Skateboards in downtown with her husband, Eric. They had championed the importance of the sport, saying it can create a positive and inclusive environment for teens and youth. Eric Neubauer has now pledged $27,000 to support the skatepark in memory of his late wife.

“I know how hard Eric and Alicia Neubauer have worked to make skateboarding more accessible in the Rockford area for the past couple decades and I know that Alicia would be proud to see the fruits of her labor pay off in the construction of a free public skatepark in the heart of the city,” Liu said.

What are the features?

The park’s design has features — such as a 1-foot, 2-inch tall flat rail — that are approachable enough for less experienced riders but still beneficial for more advanced skateboarders to attempt a higher difficulty of tricks, LaBorde said.

“It’s very versatile,” he said. “This design allows for people of all different abilities.”

Here’s a breakdown of the features:

• 4-foot mini half pipe
• 9-foot vert wall
• Banked hip
• Quarterpipe
• Bowl corner
• Kicker-to-kicker gap
• Bank to ledge
• 1-foot, 2-inch tall flat rail
• 1-foot, 2-inch tall box
• Three step downrail
• Three step down ledge
• Euro gap
• Bump to ledge

David Gackstetter, a 34-year-old design engineer at Collins Aerospace, said the park’s features offer a nice variety that differs from what’s already available at SkateWorks in Loves Park and the Flodin Boys & Girls Club Skatepark in Cherry Valley. Both of those skate parks are maintained by the Rockford Park District.

“They didn’t copy really any features from the parks that exist around the area,” said Gackstetter, who’s been skating for 22 years. “This park deviates from that a little bit and gives you different obstacles to skate. Don’t get me wrong, people will still skate the other parks … but having it’s own design, it’s not just a copy of what’s already out there, is really nice.”

Downtown location

Ben Larson, who lives in west Rockford, said he has to drive about 25 minutes now to get to one of the other area skate parks.

Those parks, he said, feel detached from their surrounding communities. The one in Davis Park is more integrated into the city, he said, allowing people to take a break for a drink at Rockford Roasting Co. or a meal at one of the nearby restaurants.

Larson owns Small Skateshop, which is at 510 Lafayette St., roughly a mile from Davis Park.

“There’s nothing even close to downtown for skateboarders,” Larson said. “I’m in my car going to a far away skate park that’s surrounded by giant roads. There’s no pedestrian feeling interaction that I get. With the skate park at Davis Park … you can interact a little bit more, instead of driving to just do this one thing and that’s it.”

Gackstetter also expects the park to create foot traffic downtown.

“Skateboarders hang out at skate parks pretty much all day. They get hungry, they will venture out into the city and support the restaurants,” he said. “One of the greatest things about skate parks — when they are built downtown — is you have that access to businesses. You’re not just out in a field with nothing around you other than the skate park.”

LaBorde said the downtown location also makes sense because skateboarders are often embedded into cities’ culture with music and arts, and downtown is the city’s cultural hub.

“Spending the day skateboarding includes your downtown,” LaBorde said. “You could go get a cup of coffee, or at the end you could go get some dinner and a beer somewhere if you’re older. You could go fishing for a little bit. You have all these different options of how you want to spend your time, as well, and have the culture of downtown.”

City Engineer Tim Hinkens said the city feels like the park is large enough to be a regional attraction, drawing people from outside the city limits to downtown.

He also said that it’s a misconception that skate parks are a breeding ground for crime and property damage. He said several studies have reached the same conclusion. One often-cited study came from The Tony Hawk Foundation in 2009. The organization, founded by skateboarding’s most famous rider, surveyed police officers in 37 different states where a skate park had been installed at least a year ago. In that study, 91% of officers said there were no major issues with crime around skate parks. The study also showed 47% of officers reported a decrease in crime while 49% reported no change.

Larson said he talked on Monday with Alderman Kevin Frost, who had expressed concerns with including the skate park in the plans for Davis Park. One concern was the potential uptick in what’s called street skating, which uses the urban environment such has handrails and ledges on building structures as obstacles. Larson said that while some skaters will always prefer that style, he thinks a park will actually help reduce that type of riding.

“Most people are going to go the path of least resistance if there’s two things side-by-side that are the same general idea,” he said. “You’re not going to get kicked out, there’s not going to be a sidewalk panel cracked right before this thing that you’re trying to skate.

“I’m skating the streets now just because I don’t want to drive 25 minutes just to go skate and then 25 minutes back,” he said. “I’ll probably do it less if I can go to a skate park and not have that.”

What’s next

Members of the City Council’s Finance & Personnel Committee on Monday took a look at multiple contracts regarding the $15.5 million plan to overhaul Davis Park.

However, they decided in a 3-2 vote to delay any decision on the park. Aldermen Jonathan Logemann and Dawn Granath had voted to go forward with the vote while Frost, Chad Tuneberg and Frank Beach had voted in favor of the delay.

The committee was to consider a $5.6 million contract with Stenstrom Construction to build the stage, concession stand and restrooms. That contract would have an additional $500,000 contingency fund set aside for unexpected cost overruns. A separate $7.5 million contract would go to Stenstrom Excavation for the paths, skatepark, playground, lighting and other site work including ground preparation and seawall repairs. There is also a nearly $1.8 million contract with SmithGroup for architectural services.

Tom McNamara’s administration had been pushing for a vote in hopes construction could start soon and wrap up in time for the June 21 Ironman 70.3, which uses Davis Park for multiple functions in the race.

The matter will be laid over until the next Finance & Personnel Committee meeting on Aug. 11.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the location of SkateWorks, 9400 Forest Hills Road, in Loves Park.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas