Memorial bike, skate park enters design phase

The Charlie Boone Trails Memorial Bike and Skate Park is coming to Lake Ridge and designs are underway.

To design the park, the Charlie Boone Trails Memorial Foundation partnered with Pillar Design Studios and Artisan Skateparks. 

“They’re [Pillar Design Studios] the first part of the process of getting a skatepark done. We’ve had meetings and talked about what we wanted this to look like and they have a great reputation throughout the country, and actually internationally too for building skateparks. We knew we had the best company working with us,” said Wendy Boone, president of the Charlie Boone Memorial Foundation.

Pillar Design Studios is a Landscape Architecture firm that specializes in Action Sports design, planning, construction, and process services. Artisan Skateparks is a collaboration of contractors specializing in skatepark design and construction.

The Foundation first met with Artisan Skateparks in 2017, who then connected them to Pillar Design Studios. Artisan Skateparks will handle construction of the park while Pillar Design will handle financing, materials, and design.

“Artisan Skateparks is the first place that I contacted with and as it turned out, they worked with Pillar Design Studios. Pillar does the frontwork basically, the actual design of the skatepark. Artisan does the building, Pillar does the design,” said Boone.

Pillar Design informed the foundation about fundraising and grants, and gave them a list of materials and costs. They came up with eight designs for the Park.

The skatepark will be built on 5.6 acres of land. It will have features such as: 

• A pump track 
• BMX trails, 
• Dirt trails that zigzag through the woods
• Walking trails
• Cement riding and skating structure
• Dirt jumps
• Sitting and picnic areas
• A memorial wall for kids in the community who have died.

“We want this to be a family park so that families can come. Parents can come with their kids and watch them skate and bike and have someplace to sit and have a picnic,” said Boone.

In addition, the Foundation also created a:

• Fire and rescue plan 
• Cultural resources plan 
• Police plan analysis
• Water plan analyses
• Sanitary sewer plan analysis
• Transportation plan analysis

The Foundation currently needs $500,000 before they can begin construction.

The Charlie Boone Trails Memorial Bike and Skate Park is being built to honor the memory of Charlie Boone, who passed away in 2012. A year after his death, the land where he and other BMX bikers and skaters used to ride was about to be sold and would be subject to trespassing. Hearing this, the Charlie Boone Trails Memorial Foundation was created, and partnered with the Prince William County Parks Department, along with Supervisor Ruth Anderson, the BMX track, and many other community members to create this park. 

“Charlie loved biking and skating, and when he passed away, we wanted to do something to honor that part in his life and to give other kids in the community to make friends and make memories of their own,” said Boone. 

More information about the Park can be found at cboonetrailsmemorialfoundation.org.

The new 5.5-acre park will be located at 12490 Everest Peak Lane, near the Old Bridge Festival Shopping Center in Lake Ridge.