The logo for the park is a purple sneaker drawn by Jacob Rogers when he was 10 years old. Jacob’s friends Victor Heredia (left) and Zach Olmstead hold t-shirts with the logo.
On May 17, Thunder Island Brewing hosted the first fundraiser for Jacob’s Park, a memorial skatepark coming to Mosier. Laurel Brown photos
The logo for the park is a purple sneaker drawn by Jacob Rogers when he was 10 years old. At top right, Jacob’s friends Victor Heredia (left) and Zach Olmstead hold t-shirts with the logo.Kim Horton photo
The logo for the park is a purple sneaker drawn by Jacob Rogers when he was 10 years old. Jacob’s friends Victor Heredia (left) and Zach Olmstead hold t-shirts with the logo.
On May 17, Thunder Island Brewing in Cascade Locks hosted the first fundraising event for Jacob’s Park, a memorial skatepark to be built in Mosier. The park is still in preliminary planning and design phases managed by Main Street Mosier, a community-based nonprofit whose mission is “to improve the quality of life in Mosier through community development, sustainable business, and historical preservation.”
Jacob Rogers was a Gorge local with a passion for skating. He passed away at a young age and his mother Andrea, former mayor of Mosier, is working to dedicate a skatepark as a memorial to her son. She spoke at the Thunder Island fundraiser, both thanking people for their attendance and donations and offering words of reflection on her son and what the park means to her family. The purple sneaker, the logo for the skatepark, was a design drawn by Jacob when he was around 10 years old. He told his mother there will never be a skatepark in Mosier, and Rogers can’t wait to change that.
On May 17, Thunder Island Brewing hosted the first fundraiser for Jacob’s Park, a memorial skatepark coming to Mosier.
Laurel Brown photo
The fundraiser included a performance from local bluegrass duo The Ditch Diggers. They played a few sets on the outside stage while bingo, raffles, and a silent auction took place inside the brewery.
Plans for the park have just begun, with the conception being a small skatepark that is friendly to all ages. It is slated to be built next to the railroad in Mosier, near the parking area at the intersection of Idaho Street and Highway 30. This skatepark site was scanned by archaeologists prior to approval, with no significant artifacts found. Designs will weave around as many trees as possible to leave the natural history of the space intact, such as the old oak and locust trees. Some locals continue to stress the importance of the habitats these trees provide for bald eagles, turkey vultures, and other raptors.
On May 17, Thunder Island Brewing hosted the first fundraiser for Jacob’s Park, a memorial skatepark coming to Mosier. Laurel Brown photos
The logo for the park is a purple sneaker drawn by Jacob Rogers when he was 10 years old. At top right, Jacob’s friends Victor Heredia (left) and Zach Olmstead hold t-shirts with the logo.Kim Horton photo
Laurel Brown photo
This land was originally donated to the city of Mosier in a settlement after a 2016 oil train derailment involving Union Pacific. Friends of the Columbia Gorge detailed the event and though no one was injured or killed, the spill was catastrophic for many reasons: “Of the 96 supposedly safer tanker cars on the train, 16 derailed, spilling 42,000 gallons of oil. The volatile Bakken crude ignited, causing a fire that took 14 hours to extinguish and sending up a plume of smoke that could be seen for many miles around.”
Not only is this space city property, but it was chosen due to its accessibility and centrality in town. Main Street Mosier hopes that kids and skaters of all abilities can spend quality time outdoors at the park to better their physical, mental, and community health. The timeline for the project is still a rough outline, but organizers are considering a year of fundraising and planning before any groundbreaking or construction begins. Some grants and other federal funding is being looked at and engineers are speaking with renowned skatepark designers in the Pacific Northwest region for inspiration.
On May 17, Thunder Island Brewing hosted the first fundraiser for Jacob’s Park, a memorial skatepark coming to Mosier. Laurel Brown photo
Laurel Brown photo
John Grim, an engineer hired for the project, hopes to start small and let the park grow organically, however the space sees fit. “We want to use local features, like train ties or something with the railroad. Or maybe tie the orchards and bridges of the area into the park, something that fits in naturally with the theme of the city,” Grim said.
Main Street Mosier, their contractors, and Rogers all envision a fun spot for young locals and hope to bring benefits of outdoor skating to the community in Jacob’s memory. More fundraisers will be set to raise money for the park as planning develops.
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