Skaters to Get Better Park
By Robin Vinci | Editor at June 1, 2024 | 2:15 pm | Print
Skateboarding park improvements are coming to Stanley Quarter Park.
“The skate park at Stanley Quarter Park gets a lot of use. Skateboarders having been asking for improvements for quite some time,” said Mayor Erin E. Stewart. “It is getting to the point where it is dangerous to be skateboarding in there. It is definitely unsafe.”
The City has hired an on-call engineer with TO Design to provide engineering services to make upgrades to the park. The City is working with an individual who will work with parks and recreation department. He has experience building skate parks in various towns across the state of Connecticut.
“They went out and visited the site last week and had thorough discussions with park and recreation staff,” said Stewart. “They will develop a scope of work and specifications so the project can be put out to bid.”
The City has $65,000 available from a grant for the construction. As soon as the City can, it will put the project out to bid. A target date for construction is August.
The current skateboard park is over 20 years old. It has a large bank, a couple rails, a couple quarter pipes, and a bowl.
Stewart said it will not just be repaired.
“We will add some things as well. What it will look like we are not sure yet,” Stewart said. “We are working with the architect to see what we can do to repair and enhance it while staying in our budget.”
Mayor Stewart believes that public works can provide help to save on costs.
Residents stated the skate park definitely needs work.
“My son and his friends would rather go to Rockwell Park in Bristol than use our skate park,” said Tony Cane. “Too many potholes and cracks.”
Joe Lux said it is in pretty bad shape.
“Although the rest of the park is great, our Skate Park is in bad shape and needs to be repaired,” said Andrianna Baez. “It’s not as nice as it should be.”
“I used it last year before graduating college. The bank needs more transition. It just kind of sticks out,” said Katelyn Avery. “Some of the things to grind are not secured to the ground. The pavement is sometimes regular pavement, not skateboard pavement.”
In the future, a new skateboard park may be built as well.
“We are exploring plans for a skateboard park at Osgood Park,” said Stewart. “What we are seeing is the increased need for additional places for skateboards to go and we want to provide a good quality safe place for them to be able to skateboard.”
Step 1 is fixing what the City already has and getting Stanley Quarter Park up to much better standards.
Step 2 is to start soliciting and finding funds to build the new park.
“Osgood Park is very underutilized and it’s very flat which makes it ideal for a skateboard park,” added Mayor Stewart. “It will have all sorts of amenities skateboarders will love. There is a need for it and it will be well used.”
