A little over a dozen residents came to the Wright City City Hall building Monday night to see the preliminary design plan for the city’s proposed skate park and provide input.

Professional skateboarder and designer Julia Brueckler with American Ramp Company, the designer on the project, was on hand to discuss the plans with residents and receive feedback.

Brueckler said she was the main designer of the skate park portion of the proposed park, while there were other designers who designed the pump track portion of the project. Brueckler said the goal of the park is to create a facility that is accessible and enjoyable for everyone no matter their age or talent level. She said the park is also designed for those who skate, use scooters or bikes.

“Whatever your wheels of choice are, you should be able to find something to enjoy,” Brueckler said.

She noted that every skate park looks different for each person, but there are certain features that most people like to see in a skate park. So the goal was to “check as many of the boxes” as possible given the budget and size of the skate park, she said.

The park has a bowl that varies in depth from four feet to six feet deep. Brueckler said the bowl was designed to be approachable for beginners, but also had aspects for more experienced skaters and bikers. The bowl then leads to a more “street” section which includes a ledge, mini-pad and a rail, items Brueckler described as staples in any skate park.

There is also a plaza section that includes a one-foot and two-foot tall stage, with a variety of stairs, ledges and rails to skate, Brueckler said. The park also includes a quarter-pipe and a pump track.

“It’s a good mix, I think it is going to be fun for kids and adults,” she said.

Mayor Michelle Heiliger said she is super excited to have the skate park in the community.

“It is a unique project for Warren County,” she said. “We are fortunate we have invested people in our community who have been involved in this sport for quite awhile.”

She also lauded the openness of American Ramp Company at being so open during the process to be willing to listen to input from the local community.

Alderman Ramiz Hakim said he felt the event Monday night was outstanding in an email to The Record.

“We had great dialogue with constituents, and the room was full of energy and practical ideas,” he said in the email. “People were excited about the versatility of the design and how the skatepark and pump track will serve beginners, advanced riders and families alike. The drawings looked fantastic and the feedback we received will help us fine tune details so the park truly reflects Wright City.

Hakim added that there were several important points from the meeting in his opinion: The design is strong and community driven; the turnout showed clear demand and broad support; and the project will be a real win for youth and families.

The park is roughly 13,000 square feet.

Brueckler said Monday’s meeting is the first round of community feedback for the park.

“Community engagement meetings happen in all sorts of different ways," she said. “Sometimes we just come here with sample designs and people tell us what they like. Sometimes, like in this one, we already make a design that fits the space and the budget, and then we get feedback.”

There is also an online survey that will be running for two weeks where residents can give feedback located at americanrampcompany.com/surveys/wright-city-skatepark-pump-track-design-feedback/.

Brueckler said the general feedback on the skate park was positive. She said the only specific feedback was making the rails custom to the park and including school logos.

The only main request was possibly making the pump track bigger, but Brueckler said to do that, money would have to be shifted from the skate park side of the park to the pump track section, which may require removing some items from the skate park portion.

Brueckler said that she and her team will take the input and go back and make decisions about the design before final approval by the city.

The skatepark will be a part of the city’s new, 62-acre park located north of Westwoods Road where construction started earlier this year.

The park is being paid for in part by a $490,000 grant with a 50% matching requirement the city received from the Land, Water and Conservation Fund in October 2024. That grant comes with a 50% matching requirement, allowing the city to use a significant amount of funds for the skatepark project, from the design phase all the way to construction.

City officials expect to break ground on the project in the spring and open the skatepark in the summer or fall.