Bountiful Residents Upset After Youth Skate Park Bulldozed
Jul 10, 2020, 11:45 PM
BOUNTIFUL, Utah – For nearly a decade, skateboarders in Bountiful have flocked to a place known as “The Pit.” The self-made skate park is located at a Bountiful catch basin at the intersection of Vineyard and Moss Hill Drives.
“It started with me and a couple buddies at first, but it blew up from there,” Bountiful resident Sterling Rip said.
The growing group saved up to soup up the concrete storm drain with ramps and pipes. Over the years, they have added to the project, which they felt was supported by the community since they did not receive any complaints.
“They just wanted a skate park and they wanted something close to their community,” parent Tiffany Ivins said.
Ivins said after not getting a response to multiple requests to the city over the years to get an official park, the kids took things into their own hands.
“We were so bummed…dumbfounded to see this big heavy equipment demolish everything!”
A self-made skatepark in Bountiful was mysteriously torn down this week. At 10:00, hear from residents who hope this leads to the city building an official park for them @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/w1YO5O4Uma
— Ashley Moser (@AshleyMoser) July 11, 2020
“Police have seemed helpful and supportive and the youth took that as a green light to keep investing day after day,” she said.
But early Tuesday without warning, a bulldozer tore it all down.
“We were dumbfounded to see this big heavy equipment in here and it just totally demolishing everything,” Ivins said. “They didn’t even have a chance to salvage it and migrate it to a new place.”
KSL reached out to city officials to see if they were behind the demolition, but we had not received a response as of Friday night.
In an email to Ivins, a city council member said the equipment was torn down due to resident complaints and because it illegally altered city infrastructure.
The group started a petition to get an official skate park built in Bountiful. They said they have heard from city council members and plan to meet with them Monday at the site to discuss their ideas.
