Construction nears on Maple Leaf Skatepark as city eyes spring 2025 opening

By Cameron Montemayor

With designs for the new Maple Leaf Skatepark now complete, project officials are setting their sights on construction this fall for the anticipated facility in north St. Joseph.

Renderings of the park created by developer Spohn Ranch — a Los Angeles-based company specializing in skatepark development — are painting a clearer picture of how the $400,000 facility will eventually look when it opens, likely in early to mid-spring of 2025 according to parks officials.

Demolition of the existing skatepark at Maple Leaf Park is expected to move forward in mid-to-late October, with construction to follow shortly after. Funding for the project comes from the 2019 Capital Improvements sales tax.

The skatepark design includes a modern concrete layout with terrain that accommodates all skill levels and riding styles. It features a below-grade bowl, a mini half-pipe section and a number of street elements including rails, ledges and pads.

“We obviously have some smaller skateboard parks around, but nothing to the level of the one that’s going to be built at Maple Leaf Park,” said Chuck Kempf, director of Parks, Recreation and Civic Facilities. “We wanted to have something that was much more competitive than what we currently have.”

Veteran skateboarders and local residents like Zale Bledsoe and Noah Tapp, who have followed the project closely, agree.

The two have long been invested in the local skateboard community, dedicating much of their lives to the sport and advocating for the addition of an advanced skatepark in St. Joseph.

“I think it’s going to be great for skateboarding,” Bledsoe said. “Skateboarding has helped me learn a lot of things, hard work, learning to pick yourself back up … It’s provided an outlet for so many people.”

With the new facility inching closer to fruition, the two are proud to see St. Joseph on the doorstep of ramping up its skatepark landscape with help from an expert developer like Spohn Ranch.

“I don’t know how to put it into words because growing up, you’d see new basketball courts being added, new tennis courts and you’re like, ‘Well, what about us?’” Tapp said. “It’s super validating to know the city is looking out for us as well.”

Tapp credits the sport with helping him build relationships with many people he now considers lifelong friends. He’s also seen how a lack of high-level facilities has impacted local participation over the years.

“I’m hoping the new park will help reintroduce the people, people that left and also bring in new people,” Tapp said. “I know a lot of my friends who I grew up with skateboarding, one of the main reasons they stopped is because they didn’t like the facilities we have.”

St. Joseph currently has smaller skateparks at Bode Sports Complex, Hyde Park and Maple Leaf Park. In Bledsoe’s case, he said he would often travel to Lawrence, Kansas, to use advanced facilities that had more features to offer.

By next spring, St. Joseph residents will have an advanced park in their own backyard for the first time. Now an Olympic sport, the new park comes as skateboarding sees notable growth in participation worldwide.

Initially budgeted at $400,000, St. Joseph City Council will vote on a change order with Spohn Ranch at its next meeting on Sept. 30 to provide an additional $50,000 for several new amenities, including spectator seating, a quarter-pipe ramp in the southwest corner and a pathway connecting the sidewalk to the new park for ADA access.

“There will be a little bit of a gateway entryway going in as well,” Kempf said.

City officials have worked closely with the local skateboard community and park developer Spohn Ranch Inc. to create a concept that appeals both to recreational and longtime followers of the sport.

“It has a bowl for those who want to learn how to skate in what’s called transition and do grabs out of the bowl and get air out of it,” Tapp said. “Then it also has little banks that you can ride up and down.”

Dylan Hay, owner of Devil’s Island Skateboard Co., a new skateboard shop that opened on Francis Street in Downtown, St. Joseph, in May, sees the new skatepark as a tremendous opportunity to host larger skate events and strengthen the popularity of the sport locally.

Hay recently organized a skate event at the Bode Complex Skate Park and has another on tap for October.

“We’ll beat the dead horse on this park and use it to its maximum,” Hay said. “I’m super excited to have this one so we can host events at a proper skatepark.”

The park will have some multi-purpose features but will focus primarily on recreational skateboarding. A majority of the previously-planned biking components will be incorporated into the redeveloped pump track on Wyeth Hill, which recently received council approval.