Nearly a year to the date that the original Turlock skate park closed on Starr Avenue, the City of Turlock has finally completed their work on the new iteration of the Brandon Koch Memorial Skate Park.

Skaters will be able to skate the park this afternoon as the City has planned a “soft opening” before holding a grand opening.

“… we will be taking the fence down this afternoon and opening the park for the public,” noted City of Turlock Parks, Recreation, and Public Facilities Manager Erik Schulze.

It’s been a long a journey for the relocated skate park to come to fruition. With delays coming about due to rainy weather and El Niño earlier in the year, the skate park has inched slowly to where it can now be used by the skating community.

The goal at the end of this project was for the City to turn over a product they can feel good about, according to Parks Recreation and Public Facilities Director Allison Van Guilder.

Local skaters will no longer have to travel over to Ceres to visit a skate park or fear for trespassing over and through the fenced construction site now that the skate park will be open to the public.

According to Development Services Director Mike Pitcock, comparing the new park to the old park is a matter of “apples and oranges.” Whereas the old park had flatwork and concrete with skating elements moved on top of it, this new park is a freeform design from skate park designer Wormhundt Inc., designer of the famous Venice Beach Skate Park.

After continual push backs on the opening day, the City will finally be returning a place to skate for their residents.

Even though Schulze acknowledged that City Staff will still be doing some “significant” landscaping work for the park’s grand opening set for Sept. 24, the new Brandon Koch Memorial Skate Park, located 600 Pedras in Donnelly Park, will be open to the public this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. and will follow regular park hours afterward from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.