After more than 20 years, the Riverton skate park is closed. 

The Riverton City Council voted 4-1 in early December to officially close the skate park, with city staff citing public safety and liability as primary concerns. 

“I want to be clear,” City Manager Kevin Hicks told the council during the Dec. 2 council meeting. “The purpose of this decision before you tonight is simply to, for safety reasons, close the skate park.” 

Hicks walked through the reasons why city administration arrived at this point and brought a resolution before the council. He highlighted how, in January at the yearly strategic planning meeting the council discussed how the skate park was approaching a budgetary territory of repair or replacement. 

They spoke with three vendors they’ve worked with before, with the third contractor being one who specializes in skate parks. Hicks said they told him it’s not a repair, it needs to be replaced. 

Then over the summer their new insurance carrier, Utah Risk Management Agency, inspected the majority of city facilities to rate the city. Hicks said the loss prevention specialist told them they could be liable for any injuries incurred there and said they should close it until it’s repaired. 

The reason it wasn’t closed sooner is because the council requested a written report from the loss prevention specialist which was completed Dec. 1. 

The report, Councilmember Andy Pierucci said, cited significant hazards and exposures to risk. He felt the fact there hadn’t been a major accident was “a blessing.” 

He said while skating is a risky venture by itself, the risk should not increase because of the facility’s standard. “I’m comfortable with (the closure),” Pierucci said. “I wish we didn’t have to do this and I wish we would’ve done it sooner, and I think we need to figure out a solution sooner rather than later.”

Hicks said the closure has nothing to do with development projects nor any potential land transactions occurring at the front of Riverton City Park, where the skate park is located. “That 100% has no bearing on this whatsoever.” 

Outgoing Councilmember Tawnee McCay was the lone dissenting vote. She said she wants the skate park to remain where it is and to repair the problems. She wondered about soliciting more contractor quotes or putting up signs that say “use at your own risk.”

City Attorney Ryan Carter explained skate parks are designed to accommodate children and since they are not of a legal age to appreciate a dangerous facility, the city would still be liable. 

Brenner Adams, a Riverton resident for 17 years and has skateboarded for most of his life, said he and his oldest son—a die-hard skateboarder—have never used the skate park in Riverton because it is unsafe and it can’t be fixed. He likened the changes it needed to having golf course designer build a baseball diamond with rolling hills and sand traps in the middle of the baseball diamond. 

“It just doesn’t work,” Adams told the council in November. “The skate park needs to be eliminated completely and rebuilt.” 

To keep people out, a 6-foot chain-link fence was rented by the city for $1,500 a month. 

“It sucks that we’re going to have to spend money monthly to protect our liability,” Pierucci said. “It’s unfortunate our infrastructure is at a place where we’re in this situation, but we have a public safety obligation…$1,500 a month until we figure out what to do here is small compared to the millions of dollars of liability.” 

In the meantime, Riverton’s website announcing the closure included locations of skateparks in neighboring cities like Herriman, Bluffdale, South Jordan and Draper. It’s that proximity that encourages Mayor Trent Staggs to forego rebuilding a skate park. 

“When staff showed me three different skate and all-wheel parks within 2-3 miles of where our current facility is at, I think there’s ample opportunities out there for our residents to avail themselves,” he said during a November meeting. 

Councilmember Troy McDougal said the city’s obligation is safety and if the professionals are saying there’s a risk then they should close it. He added the park’s longevity so far shouldn’t make this surprising.

“It’s been a wonderful park, it’s 20 years old, this is not unexpected,” he said. 

Councilmember Spencer Haymond said the future of the skate park should be high the council’s priority list. 

“It’s not attractive to have the place fenced off with chain link fence in front of a city park,” he said. “Then of course the people of Riverton City are going to want to see some action on what our solution is for that.” 

Officials plan to speak more during the Jan. 20 council meeting about the skate park, whether to seek more bids to repair it, forego it, rebuild it altogether and if so, then where.