Hearing From A Professional

The prospect of creating a skatepark in North Park received a boost from one of the world's top skateboarders.

Professional skater Fabiana Delfino joined many members of the Boca Raton community at the August 6 skatepark workshop held at the Boca Raton Community Center.

“It's pretty awesome,” said Delfino. “Honestly, there's been a lot of momentum and I'm kind of just shocked how strong the momentum is. There's more people at every meeting. So yeah, I think this is a great turnout. A lot of people are passionate about what they want to see in their community.”

Delfino is a unique position to understand and offer insight into multiple aspects of the proposed new skatepark.

The 28-year old grew up skating in Boca Raton. Recently she purchased a condo in the Boca Teeca section of Boca, which is adjacent to North Park.

“It's really cool to see how easy it is to get your voice out and how transparent the process is,” said Delfino, who's been skating professionally since 2019. “And it's really cool to actually see my neighbors, who I've never met, but they agree with the same things that I'm into.”

The workshop provided the community the opportunity to view possible features that could be included in the proposed new skatepark and to offer their ideas for amenities they'd like included.

“I think it's a fantastic idea getting the input of the kids that are skaters, or the community members that are skaters, because they are the ones who are going to be skating it,” said Celia Glasser, who attended with her skater daughter Madeline. “I enjoyed the designs. I like the nature aspect of it. I think it's a great, great idea.” 

Participants ranging in age from youngsters – some with their skateboards – to senior citizens were greeted by a presentation from Plant-a-Park and the Platform Group providing a conceptual plan and discussing the potential park features that could be included in the design.

Poster boards featuring different design elements were placed around the room. Some highlighted potential architectural elements such as shade coverings, lights and supports. Others showcased different skating elements such as pump tracks, whoop dee dos, and berms. Another posterboard offered landscaping and other aesthetic ideas.

Attendees were provided with red and green stickers, and were asked to place the green ones on features they liked and red ones on the ideas they didn't.

Community members enjoyed the opportunity to share some ideas with District Commissioners Craig Ehrnst and Suzi Vogelgesang. 

“I think it's the most important thing we can do, solicit input from the community - from the skate community and from the residents,” Vogelgesang said.

The proposed location for the new skatepark is close to the southeast corner of Jeffrey St. and NW 2nd Ave., near the railroad tracks, in the Boca Teeca section of Bcoa Raton.