KCMO is building a skate park under the Buck O’Neil Bridge (and tagging artists for the blank canvas)

Editor’s note: The following story was published by KCUR, Kansas City’s NPR member station, and a fellow member of the KC Media Collective. Click here to read the original story or here to sign up for KCUR’s email newsletter.

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Local artists can have a hand in creating public art to accompany a planned skate park between River Market and the West Bottoms; Riders in the area hope the site becomes a hub for the local skateboarding community

“It’s also going to be a great opportunity for people to spectate and have the skate park itself be kind of an artistic installation,” said Russell, a former professional skateboarder.

Current plans call for the park, beneath the city’s new, $258 million bridge, to emulate a downtown urban plaza, mixed with banks and transitions that keep the flow moving for skateboarders, bikers, and roller skaters, Russell said.

Kansas City issued a call for artists to create work for the future 16,000-square-foot Buck O’Neil Bridge Skate Park. It will include banks and transitions that to keep the flow moving throughout the new skate park; rendering courtesy of New Line Skateparks

The local skating community has grown rapidly in recent years, but Ben Hlavacek, president of MOKAN Skates, said Kansas City has not made improvements to the skate park system until now.

The Harrison Street DIY skate park in the Columbus Park neighborhood, a project Hlavacek was involved in, was slated for demolition last year to make way for development by the Housing Authority of Kansas City.

But the new Buck O’Neil Bridge project gives him hope, and anticipation for the project is high.

“I’m really excited to have a space that’s going to be servicing the Westside, the Northeast, and all these other areas surrounding downtown,” Hlavacek said. “I think it’s going to be like a really unifying space for everybody.”

Renderings for the planned skate park show a mix of ramps, ledges, and rails alongside natural landscaping elements; rendering courtesy of New Line Skateparks

Kansas City Public Art Administrator James Martin said the goal for artists who apply will be to make the art an integral part of the skate park.

“The art will be visible and functional,” Martin said. “This will be very much a piece that’s designed for interaction.”

The project budget is $200,000, and the deadline for the first round of proposals is Aug. 11. The second round will award five semifinalists $3,000 to craft designs for the project.

Kansas City is also asking for art proposals that would reuse 250,000 pounds of steel from the old Buck O’Neil Bridge, which was demolished in February 2024; photo by Julie Denesha, KCUR

In a different open call for artists, the city is also asking for art proposals that would reuse 250,000 pounds of steel from the old Buck O’Neil Bridge that was demolished in February 2024.

Martin said artists are welcome to include that material in a skate park proposal.

“It’s actually not a requirement for applying for this particular project, but we’d welcome the opportunity for providing steel from the bridge for an art project,” Martin said.