Harry Todd Skatepark

harry Todd Skatepark - Skateboarding is Not a Crime

The history of a teenager with a dream, and why it’s more than just a skate park to the Tillicum community. 

By Randi Stumpp

Back in the early 2000s, a teenager had a vision to better his community by building a skate park. In 2024, it was on the chopping block to be removed altogether.

Tillicum is a land-locked neighborhood in the city of Lakewood, WA only accessible by car or bus, as there currently isn't a safe walkable route connecting it to the rest of Lakewood. This neighborhood is home to a very diverse community with various socioeconomic struggles. The City of Lakewood Parks Department has since taken the location where the skatepark and tennis courts were and put in pickleball courts. 

Ryan Wilmott worked with a number of people, including Mary Dodsworth at the city of Lakewood, to get the skate park built. Matt Anderson, Tillicum resident at the time, asked Mary about this in 2023, and here's what she wrote:

"I’ve been with the City of Lakewood for 22 years and remember working with Ryan on this project.  We wrote a grant to fund the above ground skate park.  He was my technical advisor!  He was a busy and adventurous child and I loved his energy and providing him with a positive way to give back to his community."

The Andersons were a primary family and positive force in the Tillicum neighborhood, Matt was coaching baseball for Ryan’s siblings Sierra and Dylan when he first met Ryan. During the time Ryan was formulating his idea to bring a skate park to Tillicum, Matt helped to assist him by driving around to different skate parks in the Puget Sound area so that he could really get a feel for how other cities incorporated this into their parks. 

In 2002, Matt had written an article for the Kitsap Sun in Bremerton about an upcoming concert at an above ground skate park at Island Lake. When Ryan and Matt adventured out to that event, Ryan spent many hours skating that day and eventually convinced Matt to try it as well: 

“I was in my early 20’s, but I had never skated and did not do well. Ryan made it look so easy. One of our four sons just turned 13, and he's a natural at skating, just like Ryan was. Our son is new to it, though, and not nearly as skilled as Ryan. The thing about skating that I learned from Ryan that day is that you have to fully commit. I tried to do a drop-in but was too scared to lean into it, so I fell. Ryan said you have to be fearless and commit 100%. If you do, it'll go much better. Ryan committed 100% to getting this skatepark built, taking ideas from Island Lake and elsewhere and working with city leaders to make it happen.

It was a blessing to know Ryan, and I enjoyed following his career. He always had such talent and passion for whatever he did.”

Ryan and Matt, along with his father Dave Anderson, also met with the Tillicum and Lakewood City Councils to propose the skate park idea. Ryan would spend time scoping out the existing tennis courts at Harry Todd Park to see how often and how many people would use the courts at different times of the day - it was determined that no one was using the tennis courts at all. Eventually, Ryan and Matt were able to get Skatewave ramps as the equipment, once a grant was received to build it. 

From an interview in October 2006 with Dr. Claudia Thomas, the Lakewood mayor at the time: 

“We cut the ribbon for a skateboard park in Harry Todd Park in Tillicum, one of our lower-(income) areas. We took half of a tennis court and made it into a portable park. I volunteered to buy helmets for all those who needed it. I said, "We've given you what you asked for, now be safe, be clean, and take care of it."”

“Skateboarding has taught me two things - that symbolise a meaning of life.

How to keep a balance and how to pick yourself up when you've fallen.”

― Nikki Rowe

In the News

News articles on the conversion of the skate park to pickleball courts: 

https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/pickleball-in-skate-park-is-out-in-lakewood/281-a8f59667-1fe4-42ef-a3ec-9bc21a69addc 

https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article289522156.html 

The future is Still being Written