O'Fallon Plans Grand Opening For New Westhoff Skate Park in November

Local skaters and bikers will have a new place to ride in O'Fallon next week. 

A skate park under construction in Westhoff Park at the entrance near T.R. Hughes Boulevard and Cool Springs Industrial Drive will open to the public next Saturday. 

The Westhoff Plaza park is made of concrete and measure around 10,600 square feet in size, with street and bowl skateboarding features.

The City of O’Fallon’s grand opening for the park is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 17 from 10 a.m. to noon. The event will feature: 

• An official welcome by Mayor Bill Hennessy
• Demonstrations by skate boarders and BMXers
• A ribbon cutting
• An open skate-and-ride
• Vendors
• Giveaways, drawings and prizes

O'Fallon City Council approved the $399,176.46 construction contract with Hardcore Shotcrete Skateparks at the July 12 meeting and construction began in August.

The O'Fallon Parks and Recreation Department has worked on the project for nearly two years.

When the city upgraded their Parks and Recreation Master Plan in 2009 and asked residents to share thoughts for improvements, residents responded with requests for a skate park. 

The city hosted several public meetings in 2011 to discuss conceptual designs for the park, based off of feedback from local skaters and residents. 

Managing Director of O'Fallon Parks and Recreation Cindy Springer previously told O'Fallon Patch, the project is included in the city's five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) as a project for 2012 and is also partly funded by the half-cent sales tax passed in 2008 for parks and storm water. 

“The new park offers skateboarders, BMX bikers and inline skaters a great place to test their skills,” said Cindy Springer, O’Fallon’s Director of Parks and Recreation. “We anticipate that the public, including spectators, will get a lot of enjoyment of the park. Some of the main features that are incorporated in the custom-built concrete design are grind rails and ledges, a bank ramp, a quarter pipe ramp, a stairset, hubba ledges, a mini volcano, a jump gap and a six-foot bowl.”

You might also be interested in:

• Parks Department Hosts Meeting to Discuss Westhoff Skate Park
• O'Fallon Parks Department Invites Residents to Discuss Skate Park Designs
• O’Fallon Skate Park Under Construction in Westhoff Park