Check out Lake Oswego’s new skate park

The Rassekh Park skate park is complete and will be open to the public later this week. Meanwhile, the city continues to strategize construction of the rest of the park.

The city will open the 10,000-square-foot skate park during a celebration event at 4 p.m. Friday, June 14. It will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day thereafter. The skate park includes free skate areas, rails, grind boxes and two interconnected vertical bowls in the center.

“The skate park is fantastic. We have had, over the course of construction, the opportunity to have citizen task force members come and visit it during construction. Their response has been that it has captured their vision as far as what they wanted to see,” Parks and Recreation Director Ivan Anderholm said.

The city broke the Rassekh Park project into two, and eventually three, phases due to a shortfall of money to pay for the project all at once.

Anderholm said the first phase of the project, which also includes restroom and bike parking, a trail and path and infrastructure improvements, should be completed by the end of the summer.

The parks and recreation director was also optimistic that the second phase, which will include a play area and picnic shelter, more substantial parking and a maintenance center, would begin soon after. He said the city was in line to receive a grant that would pay for about half of the project and that parks system development charges would pay for the rest. The overall project is supposed to cost around $1.5 million, Anderholm said.

“We’re very excited about the second phase of Rassekh Park: the playground area, parking and the community shelter in the park. We are anticipating we will be receiving some funds through the state parks local government grant program,” Anderholm said.

The project’s third phase will include a multi-sport athletic field and Anderholm said the best case scenario is for construction to take place next spring. However, the city needs to complete a field requirement study (which assesses needs in the community) and a financing strategy before work could begin. He also said the city likely will apply for another grant to help pay for that project.