Portland’s Green Skatepark

Portland's green skatepark is a haven for many people

Be honest.  When you think of a skateboarding park, images of concrete – and possibly even trash and graffiti – may come to mind.  Not so at Portland’s green skatepark!

Recently, the Ed Benedict Skate Plaza in Portland, Oregon opened to rave reviews, including one from the New York Times!  What makes this park unique is… quite simply… that it resembles a park.  With trees, shrubs and even dirt, skateboarders and other members of the public can enjoy the 16,ooo square foot for more reasons than one.

Unlike the regular vast stretches of concrete that you might expect with a regular skatepark, the Ed Benedict park includes planting areas with trees and other greenery.  It visually breaks the view, and also helps skateboarders experience the classically urban activity in a more natural-looking setting.

Stormwater run-off also is managed at Portland’s green skatepark, with two biofiltration islands that are incorporated into its design, with helpful input from New Line Skateparks.

Ready to take a quick tour?  Watch this:

Now, let’s go for a ride with this cool camera view:

Tread Lightly at the Ed Benedict Skate Plaza

In addition to the green spaces throughout Portland’s Green Skatepark, visitors will notice some other green elements.  Most notably, a local skater/artist, Dan Garland designed sculptural elements including a “Tread Lightly” stamp, seen in the photo to the right.

With shade provided by the trees in the park, skateboarders are already enjoying the warmer summer days, which can otherwise be blazing hot on the concrete surface.

Portland’s Green Skatepark is following a new trend of greener skateboarding parks.  With the positive press associated with its opening earlier this year, my bet is that we’ll see more parks go green!