The Brandon Koch Memorial Skate Park is expected to open this summer after experiencing multiple setbacks in the completion of the project.

"The project has been delayed due to extensive rain," said Mike Pitcock, City Engineer and Director of Development Services.

While the wet weather has been cause for celebration in the Valley, it has pushed the opening of the skate park first from March to May, and now from May to late June or early July. Rainy conditions kept construction company Wormhoudt Incorporated from pouring concrete and working in the dirt appropriately.

According to Pitcock, the concrete work on the park is now nearly complete. After the concrete has been poured, it then needs a 28-day curing period which will then be followed by rail installation and any other finishing touches necessary.

The skate park’s relocation comes after the Turlock City Council voted in August 2013 to move the park from Starr Avenue to Donnelly Park due to the sale of the land the park originally sat on.

The new skate park’s design will include some elements from the old park and includes rails, stairs and manual pads. Through the incorporation of different aspects of parks around the region, the new skate park will offer skaters a unique experience. It offers 28 skating elements, an Americans with Disabilities Act compliant drinking fountain, park identification sign, security lights, security camera, shade trees, benches, a picnic area, a portable restroom and trash receptacles.

The skate park was officially renamed after Brandon Koch in 2013, a year after the avid skateboarder passed away from adrenocortical cancer. Koch was an advocate for skateboarding as a way to get young people to participate in an active lifestyle. The decorative granite monument and special skateboard plaque — made by Koch’s longtime friend Kameron Schumann— that stood in memoriam at the park’s old location will travel to Donnelly Park as well.