Riverton's skate park has sat empty since city officials tore it down over safety concerns, and now the wait for a replacement stretches all the way to 2028. City leaders say the new facility will rise in the northwest corner of Riverton City Park, giving local skateboarders a permanent home again after nearly three years without one.
The skate park was demolished in 2025 due to safety concerns, according to Riverton City, closing a facility that had served the community for 20 years. As reported by FOX 13 News Utah, the old park had been a daily after-school gathering spot for kids in the area, and its removal left a gap that residents noticed immediately.
Randy Shurtleff, a Riverton resident, said locals wanted to know why the skate park was removed and felt nothing was being done to replace it, per the station's report. Sam Arguello, who lives in South Jordan and has skated since he was five years old, said he now has nowhere in Riverton to ride. He described skateboarding as something that makes him feel free and said it gave him a sense of belonging that helped keep him out of trouble growing up.
A Long, Risky Ride to the Nearest Ramp
With no local option, skaters in the southwest valley say reaching a nearby park can mean a long and potentially dangerous ride, the outlet notes. Riverton City currently directs displaced skateboarders to eight neighboring municipal parks — in Herriman, Bluffdale, South Jordan, Daybreak, Draper, Lehi, Sandy, and Midvale — none of which sit inside city limits.
Riverton's mayor said the city should give a skate park back to its children, backing the idea that kids deserve a place to go in their own backyard rather than trekking to another town. That sentiment echoes the process that led the Riverton City Council to vote 4–1 in December 2025 to formally close the aging skate park, according to the South Valley Riverton Journal. The council acted after city administration presented independent safety evaluations recommending the facility be replaced rather than repaired.
Insurance Pressure Forced a Sudden Closure
Riverton City Manager Kevin Hicks reported that loss prevention specialists from the city's insurance carrier, Utah Risk Management Agency, urged closing the skate park until repairs or replacement took place, warning that keeping it open risked full injury liability, the Journal reported. Inspections concluded that spot repairs were not feasible and that the facility needed a complete rebuild rather than patchwork fixes.
The old site along 12600 South had already been folded into a Community Reinvestment Area approved in 2022 to spur commercial development in historic downtown Riverton, including sit-down restaurants, according to Riverton City. City surveys had frequently shown strong resident demand for more dining options along that stretch, adding another layer to the debate over what should happen to the land once the park came down.
Split Public Opinion Shaped the Relocation Choice
A municipal survey drew more than 3,000 valid responses in late 2025, revealing a community split over whether to rebuild the skate park at its historic spot or move it elsewhere, per Citizen Portal. City staff ultimately presented multiple relocation concepts to the council before landing on Riverton City Park as the new site.
In the meantime, the city approved a $35,400 project in May 2026 to cover the demolished 12600 South site with sod and trees, creating a temporary grand entrance for community gatherings, the Journal reported. Public works staff opted for simple turf and landscaping so the space could quickly serve as a viewing area for Independence Day fireworks.
Grant Money and a Youth Panel Guide the Design
Riverton City also approved Resolution 26-20 in May 2026, entering an interlocal agreement with Salt Lake County for $18,261 in Tourism, Recreation, Cultural, and Convention grant funds to pay for the new park's design phase, according to a Utah public meeting notice. Riverton City said the goal is to provide a quality skate park the community can enjoy, and it issued a bid seeking designs for the proposed facility, according to a city statement.
To help steer that design, the city formed a resident and youth subcommittee in January 2026 to study local recreation needs, according to KSL. The panel was created after city social media posts announcing the closure drew widespread public feedback. City staff and contracted designers estimate a basic concrete replacement would cost around $1 million, while a version with expanded amenities could run $1.5 million or more, per Citizen Portal, with the city planning to blend municipal funds and regional grants to cover the total.
What the New Park Will Look Like
The proposed skate park is expected to span between 5,000 and 10,000 square feet, according to FOX 13 News Utah, and it will not simply replace the old facility on the same footprint — it's being built fresh inside Riverton City Park's northwest corner. That 31-acre flagship park reopened in 2015 after a major overhaul and already features pickleball courts, splash pads, and the Old Dome Meeting Hall, according to Riverton City.
City officials expect the new skate park to be completed by 2028, meaning Riverton's skateboarders still face years without a facility of their own. For riders like Sam Arguello, that means continuing to look outside city limits until the concrete finally goes down in his hometown's flagship park.
