(Image: Nova Berger/CHS)

(Image: Nova Berger/CHS)

With reporting by Nova Berger/CHS Intern

While larger efforts are underway to improve Cal Anderson Park and make it a better, safer space for the neighborhood, smaller projects can come together more quickly.

The popular skateboarding area on the park’s sports courts got a fun neighborhood enhancement this summer thanks to a little community elbow grease.

With the help of Seattle Skate Features, a local company specializing in pre-assembled, high-quality skate ramps hoping to make skating more accessible, a new half-pipe ramp was added at Cal Anderson earlier this summer.

“If you build it, they will come,” Don Luca of Seattle Skate Features quipped about the instant popularity of the installation.

The skate ramp has been funded with support from Limback Lumber, Skatelite, Capitol Hill Block Party and the nearby 35th North Skate Shop.

The ramp’s addition is part of renewed efforts to upgrade and improve areas of Cal Anderson to help address public safety concerns and meet the demands on the busy Capitol Hill central park as a gathering, recreation, and hangout space.

CHS reported here on initiatives including efforts to restore the park’s wading pool or create a new spray park feature to help the neighborhood cool off.

The efforts come as business and community groups have called for a Pike/Pine safety plan to address the strong impacts of drug use, mental health issues, and homelessness in the area. Efforts to continue to revitalize Cal Anderson are one core of the plan.

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