Dallas' Bachman Lake to get a skateboarding park by end of 2024

Dallas breaks ground Thursday on its first large-scale skateboarding park — seven years after the city approved the plans.

Why it matters: The $3.9 million project will help make Dallas a skateboarding oasis rather than the skating desert it currently is.

• The 45,600-square-feet in-ground concrete skate park will bring the sport back to Bachman Lake, which once drew Tony Hawk and other skaters from across the country in the 1980s for the " Clown Ramp ."

Driving the news: The Bachman park will be the city's second skating facility. The current one — Lakeland Hills Skate Park — has modular surfaces for skating. Bachman will have planned concrete ramps.

• Lakeland Hills would get $1 million in skate park updates if voters approve the 2024 bond program in May.

Flashback: Voters approved bond funding for the Bachman skate park in 2017. Design plans were finalized in late 2021.

• The project is part of long-planned improvements to the northwest Dallas park. The lake has been dredged , a new aquatic center opened, and construction has begun to improve the trails.

By the numbers: The Dallas Parks and Recreation Department has recommended putting millions toward updating and adding skate parks as part of this year's bond program.

• $1 million would go toward a new skating facility at Westmoreland Park in Oak Cliff. The design is expected to support BMX riding too.
• Plus, $1.5 million is proposed for building an "environmentally friendly parking lot" for the Bachman Lake skate park and aquatic center.

Yes, but: The city's bond proposal still lists $500,000 in funding for a skate park at Glencoe Park, which was nixed in January, per the Lakewood Advocate . Skating advocates hope the money will be put toward a project at another Dallas park.

The big picture: Despite headlines bemoaning the end of skateboarding popularity, more people are participating than a decade ago. And skateboarding apparel and gear sales are expected to increase by $1 billion nationwide in the next decade.

Zoom in: Fort Worth, in comparison, boasts five public skate parks , including a 15,000-square-foot park that opened last year.

• Garland claims to have the state's second-largest skate park , with roughly 48,500 square feet of skating area.

What's next: The Bachman skate park is set to open by the end of the year.