Washington St. Bridge Skate Park Action Day (A Color the Creek Event)

THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2023 FROM 2-6PM
The Washington Bridge Skate Park in Battle Creek is a grassroots park. We are gathering to clean it up, celebrate and imagine the future!
Who: Anyone with a stake in having a better park! Skaters, BMX, RC, roller skaters, Litter Lads and Ladies, Rotarians, City Officials, the unhoused, kids, adults, teens
What: Skate Park Clean-Up and Party
When: August 17 from 2:00pm – 6:00pm
Where: Under the Washington Street Bridge in Downtown Battle Creek. Park with permission in the Kellogg Lot next to the bridge.
Why: This clean-up is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Battle Creek. Yeah, we’re not who’d you expect… but we’ve got an interest in building community in BC. Our goals are:
-Clean up and beautify a common space that needs it
-Activate current Rotary members
-Create an opportunity for people to come together
-Curate a memorable day
-Lift up marginalized artists and activities
-Partner with the Color the Creek festival
-Gather ideas for a large grant project to re-surface the park and add new elements (like a roller skating rink).

The Washington Bridge Skate Park was created organically, by skaters claiming vacant space and enjoying it. It is several hundred square feet of (arguably) rideable concrete, including banked and formed inclines. The Skate Park is not a traditional “bowl” but is basically an abandoned lot within a bridge substructure that has been crafted by local skaters over decades.
BMX bikers, the remote control car “RC” users in town, and other people looking for something fun to do discovered the area, too, and use the area and the adjoining vacant lot (used by the City to dump snow or debris) for riding and racing.

Another group of users are graffiti artists. These are either random people with a can of spray paint tagging, or, more notably, regional professional or semi-professional artists that are drawn to the Washington Bridge for its excellent canvas qualities. The nature of this kind of painting is that it is not meant to last. It becomes a collage and a time capsule and is completely grassroots. Fairly well-known painters from around the country have travelled to Battle Creek to create murals at this location!

Several years ago, the City added some basic signage to the Park, but due to the property’s location beneath MDOT property, and due to liability, it is not an official, funded Park. City and police vehicles frequently park under the bridge, providing some security, but the City budget does not provide any funds toward the upkeep of the property – that is left to the goodness of individuals that care about beauty and safety at the Park.

For the most part, the Park runs itself and a lot of oversite isn’t needed. However, over the years, a lot of trash has accumulated from overflowing trash cans or litter blowing around the brownfields adjoining the property. Some fencing around the site was damaged and occasionally trash or concrete is dumped. Broken glass has accumulated, and the area needs a thorough cleaning to make it safer and more attractive.

Battle Creek Rotary participates in trash pick-up projects regularly at Irving Park and along the Kalamazoo River watershed. This year, we decided to spearhead this large clean-up in hopes of engaging more of our club in hands-on volunteer work. We intend to make the clean-up into a party! The event will happen on Thursday, August 17th, 2023 in conjunction with Color the Creek.
The City has agreed to provide dumpsters and vehicles to clean up the large debris: chain link fencing and large chunks of dumped concrete and debris. They also created an agreement with MDOT to allow the clean-up to happen on their property. They will provide tools like trash-grabbers and shovels, as well as garbage bags.

Lifecare Ambulance company, who owns the adjacent property, is supportive and is invited to stage an ambulance onsite for public image and outreach. They provided a written statement of support for MDOT to show that neighbors were consulted. Our hope is that Lifecare staff will mosey over to the Park for lunch at the food trucks and to get to know some of the regular users of the Park.

Rotary is networking with local individuals and clubs to find and invite park users to participate. Rotarians and other volunteers will follow the directives of the Park’s regular users and will make improvements (like sweeping, filling or digging holes, fixing grinding rails, etc.) based on the suggestions skateboarders and RC racers, who will be asked to demonstrate their crafts as everyone works together.

Meanwhile, the new Art and Culture Collective Battle Creek (ACCBC) will coordinate a DJ booth. The music will make the clean-up a fun event and will draw people to participate. We’ll have food and drinks for everyone. The City is bringing a snowplow for artists to paint!

Rotary is also coordinating with Color the Creek, which holds an annual mural painting festival. The artists are brought in from around the nation to help bring a culture of vitality to the City. The artists will direct Rotarians and other volunteers to “buff” surfaces of the Park (meaning to cover up existing painting) and help prepare a few large surfaces for the festival which runs all that week and will coincide with the clean-up. Professional artists will paint the walls once our group finishes buffing them.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Please contact
Project Manager
Jill Anderson
(928) 830-2723
[email protected]