COVER STORY
PAGE 20 • GO! MAGAZINE
Thursday, March 25, 2021 • ThE BuLLETIN
Submitted photo
Bend skater Kevin Matwich does a frontside 50-50 in the pool at WJ Skatepark + Urban Plaza in Eugene in mid-March.
WJ Skatepark in Eugene is an
excellent spring break destination
BY DAVID JASPER • The Bulletin
W
J Skatepark + Urban Plaza is a free public skatepark situated on a half-acre under Interstate 105 near downtown Eugene,
making it one of the largest covered skateparks in Oregon since its opening in 2014. It also has some of the longest skatepark
operating hours, open daily from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. As its hours suggest, WJ is skateable most of the night, and because it has an
ostensible roof in the form of the highway above, you can still skate a good amount of the park even if it’s raining (use your judgment). That
means people like Bend skateboarder Kevin Matwich, 23, can make the 2.5 drive to Eugene and skate well into the night, which is exactly what
he did a couple of weeks ago when he and three friends drove to Eugene at 6 p.m., skated at WJ until midnight and arrived back in Bend during
the predawn hours.
Continued on next page