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Rad! Strawberry Hill Skatepark design to be presented Nov. 17

Rad! Strawberry Hill Skatepark design to be presented Nov. 17

Get stoked! The Strawberry Hill Skatepark plan is here.

The new skatepark design will be presented to the public at the Nov. 17 board meeting of the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Bainbridge Island Recreation Center.

The 16,660-sf. facility at Strawberry Hill Park will feature an expansive, open “street skating” area with ramps, stairs, rails and many other elements typical of an urban skating environment. An undulating “pump track” wraps around the skating plaza, allowing a long, continuous ride through momentum-building curves and bowls.

The park is designed for skaters of all skill levels, and will welcome not just skateboarders but roller and inline skaters and scooters as well.

The skatepark design is by Grindline Skateparks of Seattle, in consultation with a multi-age advisory group of Bainbridge Island skaters. Grindline has designed some 300 skateparks […]

Rad! Strawberry Hill Skatepark design to be presented Nov. 17Douglas2022-11-04T10:57:05-07:00

Restoring a forest at Strawberry Hill

Restoring a forest at Strawberry Hill

Trees this tall shouldn’t be this thin.

Bundled like pencils they stand, ring upon ring of bare, withered branches scaling their skinny trunks toward tiny puffs of green canopy aloft. In a Pacific Northwest defined by majestic forests of Douglas fir, the trees on the new Strawberry Hill Park addition have never quite made the grade. Now the challenge is helping the best ones move forward.

“It should not be this heavily stocked for this size of tree,” says Lydia Roush, natural resources manager for Bainbridge Metro Parks, scanning the rolling stands of troubled firs along park’s west edge. “It’s kind of a miracle more trees haven’t come down, or they’re not in even worse shape.”

The 10-acre parcel reflects the shifting uses of the island landscape, its natural and cultural history. Ancient forests were cleared for timber and, here, agriculture. Several generations of berry […]

Restoring a forest at Strawberry HillDouglas2022-11-23T11:57:39-08:00

Strawberry Hill Skatepark ‘ollies’ into the future

Strawberry Hill Skatepark ‘ollies’ into the future

Andy Caro has been skateboarding almost since the invention of the wheel – the polyurethane wheel, anyway. The dean of Bainbridge Island skateboarding got his first board in 1977, not too long after the introduction of softer, smoother-riding wheels revolutionized “sidewalk surfing” and set in motion its course from punk-rock subculture to Olympic sport.

Caro and friends built the island’s first skateboard ramp at Lynwood Center (the neighbors hated it), the first full-vertical ramp at a local dentist’s house (the dentist’s son skated), and eventually a giant wooden half-pipe at Strawberry Hill Park. A decade after that was torn down, Caro made the drawings for the concrete skate bowl that replaced it.

“There were no skaters here,” Caro recalls of the early days. “Kids up here didn’t even know what Vans (skating sneakers) were until ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’ came […]

Strawberry Hill Skatepark ‘ollies’ into the futureDouglas2022-05-20T12:33:12-07:00

Help design Strawberry Hill Skatepark

Help design Strawberry Hill Skatepark

Strawberry Hill Skatepark is being renovated and expanded, and the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District wants skaters and other park users to help with the design.

The Park District will host a public meeting from 6-9 p.m. Tuesday, April 19 at Strawberry Hill Center. Grindline Skateparks of Seattle will present options for the new park, and take input and ideas.

The expanded skatepark will include a new “street skate” area with curbs, ledges, rails, stairs and other elements typical of an urban skating environment. The design will accommodate users of all ages and abilities, and more types of skating: skateboarding, roller and inline skating, and scooters.

What would you like to see? Take an online survey to vote for your favorite elements, or suggest features of your own.

The 20-year-old Strawberry Hill skate bowl, recognized as one of the best in the Northwest, will be refurbished as part of the project.

“The Strawberry […]

Help design Strawberry Hill SkateparkDouglas2022-05-20T20:48:21-07:00