From dream to reality: Colfax Skatepark to open on Oct. 3

A long-standing dream for the Colfax community will become a reality on Saturday, Oct. 3 with the grand opening of the Colfax Skatepark. The project was initiated after Ty Conners, project lead for the skate park, received complaints about kids skateboarding in his capacity as the Colfax station commander for the Placer County Sheriff's Office. While this was not a Sheriff's Office project, Conners said his official capacity has helped him with the project's management. Now 11 years later, the skate park has been constructed with community-driven effort. Conners said the project has taken "a village to put this together," and is still floored by the amount of people that have contributed to the skate park. "I couldn't have done it without any of these people," Conners said in an interview with the Auburn Journal. "... All these people that helped, they didn't give up on me because they believed in the cause and that it was important for the community." Even Newline Skateparks, who designed and constructed the skate park, was impressed by the community's level of involvement. Conners said the firm constructs skate parks throughout the nation and in Canada, and told him they've never had this depth of involvement from the community within their projects. "It's true testament just to the community," he said. According to Conners, the contributions varied from local residents wanting to give back to the community they grew up in to various companies in the concrete industry donating materials, services and equipment. "The whole concrete industry was, like, amazing," Conners said. As a thank you to all the sponsors, Conners confirmed a sponsorship sign will be displayed at the skate park highlighting everyone that was involved with the project. Next week's opening will also kick off with a VIP event for the sponsors to get a first-look at the skate park before it's opened to the public. Then beginning at 3 p.m., the all-wheel park will be opened to the public. The community is invited to bring their skateboards, BMX bikes, scooters and skates to celebrate the opening. Conners said the grand opening is free to the community and will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony, music, a Kids Zone and demonstrations from Pro Skaters Miles Blackman, Mike McGill and John Worthington. There will also be public safety booths, vendors, local skate shops and giveaways from the pros. Food and beverages will be available for purchase. Knee Deep Brewing will be hosting a beer garden and food vendors include Maria's Tacos, barbecue, hotdogs, snow cones, ice cream and cookies. Conners confirmed parking will be available at Colfax Elementary School, 24825 Ben Taylor Road, with shuttle service to the skate park. Parking and the shuttle are free. The event goes until 8 p.m. After the grand opening, Conners said a viewing area - to include picnic tables, a shade structure and 190 bricks engraved with donors' names - is the next phase to be completed. Efforts to secure grant funding for the viewing area are ongoing.