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City of Orem maintenance crews and volunteers conduct cleanup at Orem Skate Park on Monday, August 19, 2024.
Courtesy of Aaron Torriente
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A volunteer conducts cleanup at the Orem Skate Park on Monday, August 19, 2024.
Courtesy of Aj Mellor
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The Utah Skatepark Advocacy Group is working with the City of Orem on cleanup efforts at Orem Skate Park following recent flooding on Monday, August 19, 2024.
Courtesy of Aj Mellor
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A volunteer holds a hose during a cleanup event at the Orem Skate Park on Monday, August 19, 2024.
Courtesy of Aj Mellor
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City of Orem maintenance crews and volunteers conduct cleanup at Orem Skate Park on Monday, August 19, 2024.
Courtesy of Aaron Torriente
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Utah is known as a state with many citizens who are happy to help out when it comes to getting work done.
After Orem Skate Park was flooded during last Tuesday’s downpour, leaving the area soaked with water and debris and closed to skaters, the Utah Skatepark Advocacy Group knew something had to be done to reopen the park.
The group, led by Lehi resident Sean Peterson, worked with the city of Orem to quickly organize a community cleanup effort.
When Peterson contacted the city late last week, officials told him they were waiting for the park to dry and had already planned not to send workers out until Monday, but were happy to have a helping hand.
In the spirit of working with cities to bridge the gap between the skate community and municipalities, the Utah Skatepark Advocacy Group used its social platform @goskateutah to mobilize around 30 volunteers. Nearly 50 people participated in the joint effort, in addition to maintenance crews and City of Orem staff.
“So they (Orem City) were able to get a tractor out there because there was just so much debris and stuff. The park was 4 to 6 feet under water at one point, and that threw so much mud and silt onto the concrete, which then dried on the concrete after the water, you know, went away and drained away,” Peterson said.
Volunteers and city workers worked together to sweep up debris and scrape caked-on mud and dirt from the concrete. They also hosed down the park with a fire hydrant hose. “That’s kind of what we see in the video, literally wiping the park and all the mud off the surface,” Peterson explained.
“Last week’s flooding left tons of debris at the Orem Skate Park, but that was no match for the passionate people of our local skate community,” the city said on its social media accounts. “Led by @goskateutah, a small army of volunteers came out yesterday and cleaned up the skate park and got it back up and running.”
Orem City also noted that a local family, the Mellors, also participated by providing food for volunteers and bringing hot dogs to make sure hard-working citizens were fed. “We learned that there was a cleanup going on at the park we visit most often and we just wanted to be a part of it and make it a special experience,” Aj Mellor said in a video posted on Orem City’s Instagram page.
Although the cleanup took less than three hours, Peterson and the Utah Skatepark Advocacy Group hope that events like this will create a connection between skatepark enthusiasts and local leaders in Orem and beyond.
“I mean, long term, we would like to see Orem get a new skate park in the next few years, and we would help work with them and push that initiative forward. We’ve done that with a lot of other cities,” Peterson told the Daily Herald.
Since 2021, the group has been working to expand access to skate parks, including improving existing parks and building more parks across the state.
“A lot of it is educating cities and making them understand that skate parks are not going away. In fact, the demand for them is increasing. So let’s find ways to build community and activate these spaces as well,” Peterson said.
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