CPNMD Board Member Chris Lewis (left), Interim District Manager Nathan Travis (center) and skatepark designer Carol Henry of Design Concepts gave a community presentation on November 12 regarding a potential new skatepark in the City of Castle Pines.

The Castle Pines North Metro District (CPNMD) hosted two community meetings to discuss future plans for features and a location of a potential new skatepark to replace the one recently demolished to make way for new pickleball courts. However, the meetings may have been premature, as the City of Castle Pines – with input from the community – will likely be the decision-maker sometime next year.
City officials and the CPNMD board are working toward an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) where the City would assume operations and maintenance responsibilities for parks and recreation from CPNMD, a function that traditionally falls under most cities’ purviews.

Youth from Castle Pines and neighboring communities attended the CPNMD open house on November 12 to discuss their desires for a new skatepark.

“We are months away from deciding where a skatepark could potentially go,” said City Manager Michael Penny. He added that if the IGA goes through, the City, working with its Parks and Recreation arm, is “committed to an open and full community-wide conversation about all recreation spaces to include the skatepark.”

If the IGA transfer is completed, Coyote Ridge Park, The Retreat Park, and Daniels Gate Park – as well as 352 acres of open space, 14 miles of paved eight-foot-wide trails, and the community’s stormwater drainage system – would be transferred to the City in 2023.
Earlier this fall, CPNMD broke ground on new pickleball courts at Coyote Ridge Park. As part of the project, the existing skate park, which was built in 2006, was torn down to make way for the new courts. CPNMD was evaluating the lot adjacent to the public parking lot northeast of Hidden Pointe Blvd. and south of Serena Drive as a potential new location – which was met with an outpouring of community concern.

Resident Leslie Bailey, accompanied by her son, Myles, addressed the CPNMD Board at its November 14 meeting regarding concerns about its proposed new skate park location.

On Saturday, November 12, skateboarders and their parents met with CPNMD staff members to give their input on the potential location. CPNMD Interim District Manager Nathan Travis, skatepark designer Carol Henry of Design Concepts and Detective Neil Cyr of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office fielded questions and offered their insights.

At its November 14 board meeting, the CPNMD board largely dismissed the original site location in favor of vetting a potential alternative site the City might purchase from the Douglas County School District. The alternative skatepark site could be located as one element within a much larger 22-acre parcel immediately northeast of Monarch and Hidden Pointe Boulevards.
A second community meeting was held Wednesday, November 15 for the Hidden Pointe neighborhood residents to voice their concerns. Many in the community said the location under consideration for the skatepark would be an eyesore, add more traffic in the neighborhood, and be an attractor for extra trash and noise, to name a few of the protests.

Before any decisions will be made, the potential IGA between CPNMD and the City is the first step in anything moving forward.

By Hollen Wheeler; photos courtesy of CPNMD