Hawaiʻi County Prepares Hilo Bayfront Park for Donated Temporary Skate Ramp

Hawaiʻi County Parks and Recreation crews have begun preparing a site at Hilo Bayfront Park to receive a donated 4-foot tall, 20-foot wide skate ramp from Dan Madsen, owner of Oasis Skateboards. An identical Instagram and Facebook post from the county reads, “We're stoked to be adding a skate ramp at Hilo Bayfront Park Our Parks Maintenance division began the site work today to prepare the area,” signaling the county’s maintenance division is moving to install the temporary structure.

The ramp is intended as a temporary public venue for skaters to practice essential ramp skills such as drop-in, pumping, tail stalls and axle stalls while the permanent Hilo Skatepark is designed and built. The ramp’s riding surface will be made of Skatelite, a weather-resistant material described as able to withstand rain, snow and extreme heat, and Hawaiʻi County Council contingency funds were granted to the Grassroots Community Development Group Hawaiʻi to purchase the Skatelite.

County officials say the ramp was offered after Madsen approached the department with an idea to donate a ramp that had been gifted to him for his property, and the county will install it at Hilo Bayfront Park. Clayton Honma, director of Parks and Recreation, said: “We have identified Hilo Bayfront Park as a suitable area for the skate ramp, and we have been going through the planning process to host it there.”

To ensure the temporary amenity meets accessibility standards, the county will add a concrete path connecting the Hilo Bayfront Trails path to the ramp area so the park continues to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. Maintenance crews are conducting the initial site work and preparing the ground where the ramp will sit; county staff have indicated the installation will be handled by Parks and Recreation.

The ramp sits within a longer-term plan for a permanent Hilo Skatepark. The county purchased a 2.8-acre lot on Piʻilani Street three years ago as the future skatepark site, and designs remain incomplete. Honma said the Environmental Assessment is “currently underway, and we are hopeful that we will be able to complete the EA by the end of this year.” The county signed a contract on Sept. 20 with an architect to design an indoor skating derby and event facility, and county spokesman Tom Callis described that agreement as the first of three, saying the next two contracts will “cover the necessary planning, design and permitting for the outdoor skating elements, roadways, concession building, walkways, comfort stations, parking, utilities, landscaping (and more) for the park.”

Local partners are watching the EA process closely. Rhonda Nichols, president of the Hilo Skateplaza Coalition, which has worked with the county for more than a decade on the project, said, “Our group will not raise funds until the EA and plans are completed,” and warned, “We have spent 16 years on this project, and will not get burned again if the project doesn’t move to the next level.” At the same time, coalition leaders have indicated they are ready to begin fundraising once the EA and plans are finished, keeping the donated ramp as a near-term step while the multi-contract development and phased construction proceed.