Etnies Skate Park, Lake Forest Photo by Ronald Moore and Associates

Etnies Skate Park, a $3 million, 38,000-sq.-ft. facility constructed by Barnhart Inc., is the largest skateboard park in California.

Barnhart faced several challenges while managing the project, due to the park's uniqueness, public interest and location.

The scope of the project included construction of the various skateboarding areas, including two bowls, two courses and a plaza area.

The pool or "skull bowl" mimics an empty backyard pool, complete with coping and tile. The "combi bowl" is shaped like a "T" so skaters can boomerang around corners and features rust-proof steel coping and various dips for elevation changes. The flow course is a vertical skating area with transilioned and bowled corners for those skaters who enjoy "catching air." The street course resembles objects found on a normal streetscape, such as stairs, rails, picnic tables and banks. The plaza is a flat area that includes handrails, speed bumps, curbs, ledges and a large area for tricks and flips. An administration building houses restrooms, a rental area and snackbar.
The park also features spectator and landscaped areas, including a "wheel wall" where users can donate wheels to support the park.

A particularly unique aspect of the park is a manhole cover/time capsule which will be opened every 10 years. The variety of scope and use of the site required the use of three designers, one of which was headquartered out of state.

Due to high levels of public interest in the project, the Etnies Corp. (a footwear an apparel manufacturer) obtained naming rights to the park in exchange for donating the venue's skate hoarding area designs.

Etnies also donated funds to Lake Forest to ensure the park would truly be a public park and a free attraction for users. Etnies hired Arizona-based SITE Architects to develop the skate hoarding areas of the project and since SITE was not under contract with the city, coordination of the drawings was a unique challenge for Barnhart managers. While working with the other two architects, Barnhart managers also had to coordinate with SITE, which was located out of state and not under contract with the client. Barnhart managers relied upon constant use of modern technology to communicate with SITE in a paperless effort to coordinate communication among the three architects so that drawings would be cohesive. Elevations for the skate park's area perimeter had to be the same in all three drawings.

Another testament to excellent project management was the coordination of the various right-of-ways that flow through the property. Orange County flood control, Caltrans and private owners were three entities that had an interest in the project. Coordination and communication with these agencies was crucial during construction of a storm drain system. The site also had a trail that was to remain open to hikers, horses, bikers and joggers. The use of heavy shoring equipment to construct the storm drain had to be constantly monitored and sometimes shut down to allow safe passage of horses and other animals using the hiking trail with their owners.
Due to the high-profile nature of the project, anxious citizens and professional skateboarders became what Barnhart managers called "sidewalk supers."

Professional skaters visiting the park gave managers insight on the various skating features and courses. Numerous changes were implemented from these suggestions. Barnhart managers again had to be flexible and accommodating to please the end-users of the facility, while also containing costs for the city. All of the changes made during the course of construction had to be coordinated with the three architects to ensure a cohesive design. One change made was on the "skull bowl," designed to replicate the swimming pools of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The Development Team

Owner: City of Lake Forest
Architect: SITE Design Group
Construction manger: Douglas E. Barnhart Inc.
Engineers: Rabben/Herman Design Group (landscape)
Ron Yeo, FAIA (support buildings)
Key subcontractors:
California Skate Parks (skate park)
Continental Plumbing
Electro Dynamic Services (electric)
Marina Landscape
Thomco Construction (support buildings)
Shamrock Paving