Charles River Skatepark | East Cambridge

KentXie

KentXie

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Skatepark funding keeps rolling in
By Donna Goodison
Saturday, March 24, 2007

Supporters of the $2.3 million Charles River Skatepark have raised more than half of the cost of the project, which tourism officials say could be a regional magnet and attract marquee sporting events such as the X Games.

?There are areas that are for less experienced skateboarders, but this is a skate park where even the most experienced skateboarder or BMXer will find a challenge,? said Renata von Tscharner, president of the Charles River Conservancy. ?There?s nothing else that size or nothing else of that quality in New England.?

The Cambridge nonprofit is spearheading the drive to fund the 40,000-square-foot park on vacant land beneath the Zakim Bridge. Construction hinges on Big Dig work, said von Tscharner, who says a 2008 opening is ?optimistic.?

The Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau believes the park could draw enthusiasts from around New England and perhaps New York, in addition to serving as one of multiple venues needed to host extreme sports events.

?It gives us opportunities to create events around this which would drive people into the city for new tourism dollars,? bureau CEO Pat Moscaritolo said.

Last year?s X Games in Los Angeles, aired on ESPN and ABC, attracted 138,672 spectators. Von Tscharner said it?s likely the park will start with regional events before vying for the larger ones.

About half of the park will be dedicated to transition-style terrain, with bowls, pipes and smooth surfaces for the skateboarding style that grew out of California in the 1970s, when skateboarders took to empty swimming pools. The other half will be devoted to streetscapes with stairs, ledges, railings and ramps attacked by skateboarders in urban areas. Elements of places frequented by Boston skateboarders, including Copley Square, the Harvard Square pit and Boston Medical Center, were incorporated into the design.

Santa Cruz, Calif., skate park architect Zach Wormhoudt designed the Boston park over a two-year period with input from some 400 skateboarders during four sessions in 2004, von Tscharner said.

More than $1.2 million has been raised toward the project, including $100,000 from the Lynch Foundation that was announced yesterday.

?If you?re a serious skater in Boston, you can go to Rye, N.H., and get something OK, or you can go to the Midwest and get something really good,? said Carolyn Lynch, chief executive of the Lynch Foundation and wife of former Fidelity Magellan Fund manager Peter Lynch.

?We need more places for children to play, where they can get self-confidence,? Peter Lynch said, while standing by a ?shred ahead? sign yesterday at the park?s future site. ?It beats waiting around for your parents to get home.?
 
This idea is really good. A skate park is one of the few things that would be enhanced by being under highway ramps. Funny how the folks running the Garden Under Glass thing have failed so miserably (with perhaps the best location on the Greenway) while a non-profit supported by skateboarders is successful. I'd also wouldn't be surprised if the skate park got more use than the GUG ever would have, for what, one fortieth of the capital cost?
 
As a former skateboarder, i can attest. this is a good idea. I used to go down to Skater Island (in Middletown RI) when i used to skate and that was a great park (featured in Tony Hawk Proskater Games, and visited by professionals), but from what i've heard, it's since closed down and turned back into a warehouse.

Portland, OR. has a large-underbridge skatepark that is succesful and popular. If there is a good option close by for skaters, they'll stay off of the granite and sidewalks of the financial district (skateboard scuffs are so ugly). The Park being located under a bridge is a fantastic idea because it's hidden from plain view, so spraypaint and other graffiti won't be visible and out in the open.

When people say it'll take kids off the streets, this is one of those instances where it's entirely true; as a former skater, i know this to be the case. Skater's would use it as a gathering point, social area as well as a recreation facility. Great idea by the developers, hopefully it will work.
 
To make this accessible, the state needs to build at least one of the long-promised pedestrian bridges in this area -- probably the one going over the railroad tracks on the Charlestown-Cambridge side.
 
Im wondering how the city will react to grafitti?

Will they encourage it (in the park borders) or try to erase it?
 
I would assume the city wouldn't "encourage" it, but at the same time i doubt there would be any real effort to get rid of it either. the best part of a skatepark under a bridge is that it's... under a bridge. not going to be an eyesore for everyone around and it's NOT going to be a family park for all ages. It will be interesting to see how the city feels about the graffiti though.
 
Zakim Bridge skatepark plans remain on hold, possible 2008 completion
City park officials and boarders await a little concrete relief
J.M. Lawrence, Correspondent

Raised, brass strips sunk into the low, granite walls of the newly opened Nashua Street Park were supposed to make skateboarders go shred elsewhere.

Instead, the disciples of concrete pried up the bars, laid down a coat of wax and began to grind away on a city they claim as their urban playground.

State parks officials won't bother fixing the strips. Like scores of other property owners afflicted with chipped concrete and scraped rails, they hope a sprawling cutting-edge skate park under the Zakim Bridge will one day stem skaters' assault on granite benches, fountains and stairs.

Seven years since the Charles River Conservancy first started advocating for the skate park, backers say they hope to open the park in 2008.

They've raised $1.3 million of the $2.3 million price tag for the 40,000-square-foot park across from the Museum of Science. Naming rights for the park are still for sale.

"With less than a million to go, I'm confident we'll get there," said Renata von Tscharner, the conservancy's founder and president who fervently believes skateboarding is great for kids.

More than 800 individuals and corporations have donated funds for the project, including a $100,000 gift from the Peter and Carolyn Lynch Foundation last month.

Backers blame delays on soaring construction costs and the project's backburner status last year at the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, where Big Dig construction scandals forced management shakeups after a ceiling tunnel collapse that killed a Jamaica Plain woman. The authority owns the skate park land.

A "Shred Ahead" sign, marking the park's future home, has turned into a joke for tourists on the Boston Duck Tour.

"I can't wait until my grandkids can use it," a young tour driver deadpanned to passengers last week before splashing his craft into the nearby river.

Boston skateboarder Leonard Ernshaw said skaters are still hungry for that park.

"All the bureaucracy and the red tape it's gone through just makes people want it more. I'm sure some people are frustrated it hasn't happened quicker, but the passion is definitely still there," said Ernshaw, who helped build skate parks in Newburyport, Worcester and Providence.

In the four years since the skate park's Santa Cruz-based designer first unveiled its plan, Wormhoudt Enterprises (skateparks.com) has opened at least eight other skate parks nationwide.

Landscape architect Zach Wormhoudt, who designed a similar park in Kentucky - named the Louisville Extreme - said the Boston park isn't moving especially slowly for a project of its scope and complexity.

With views of the city skyline and the ramp to the Zakim Bridge looming above, the site brings out the surfer dude in Wormhoudt, whose father designed Santa Cruz' first skate park in 1974. "It's just an awesome site," the architect said.

Boston skate park

The park would be the biggest free-admission skate park on the East Coast. The design features a huge through-pipe with a roll-in wave feature and concrete ledges mimicking the Copley Square Fountain and the Boston Medical Center plaza, both favorites of local skaters. Plans for an in-line skate track around the outside of the park were dropped because of abundant in-line skating paths along the river.

Why a skate park?

On March 23, Commonwealth Avenue residents Peter and Carolyn Lynch visited the site of the future Charles River Skatepark under the ramps of the Zakim Bridge in Cambridge. They talked about the benefits the skate park will bring to the city and the region for athletes, observers, visitors and businesses. Their foundation, the Peter and Carolyn Lynch Foundation, has donated $100,000 to the skate park. In addition to providing a much-needed venue for young people to practice their talents, the $2.3 million, 40,000-square-foot skate park will be the largest such facility in New England and will attract skateboarders, in-line skaters and acrobatic bikers from across the region. It is expected to increase tourism revenues to the city, as well as attract new businesses.
Click to expand...

http://www.bostonnow.com/news/local/2007/05/21/skatepark_boston/
 
I am all for a skatepark like this. The following may not be the best comparison, but before Lexington (my hometown) built there skatepark, the town center would be plagued by skateboarders everywhere. That doesn't happen anymore because of the park, which is located close to the center. Hopefully, this park can do the same.
 
Re: Charles River Skatepark

Some progress. Hope they raise all the money they need.


Charles River Skatepark signs with Grindline to built skatepark

Boston, MA ? December 13, 2007---The Charles River Conservancy has chosen Grindline to build the proposed 40,000 square foot skatepark in East Cambridge under the Leonard P. Zakim Bridge on the Charles River at the new basin.

Based in Washington, Grindline has a reputation for world-class skateparks and is well-known in the skater community. They have built parks in more than 30 states and are looking to expand worldwide.

Jamie Cumming, Boston skateboarder and member of the CRC?s Skatepark Committee, said, the CRC has ?chosen one of the best skatepark builders in the world. It is a company of skateboarders, so the people building the park are skateboarders themselves and have skateboarders? needs at the forefront.?

Senior Project Manager Matt Fluegge has been skateboarding for about 20 years and has already surveyed the site. Grindline will be making minor changes to renowned skatepark designer Zach Wormhoudt?s original plans, which incorporates design ideas from local skaters. The 40,000 sq foot park will be half-transition and half-streetscape elements, and will be the largest park Grindline has built.

Grindline is currently about half-way through building a similar, 30,000 square foot skatepark in Houston, Texas, also located in an urban setting. Fluegge said of the unique location, ?It?s right on the river, which is really cool, something you don?t see too often. It?s centrally located in town, under the overpass, which will give cover from rain and shade from sun.?

The area?s unique requirements make this park difficult, but it will be accessible by four T stops (Lechmere, Science Park, North Station, and Community College), important for the youth of Boston and Cambridge who currently don?t have such an accessible place to legally skate.

The final stages of fundraising are here and groundbreaking for the project is slated for spring 2008.

Signing with a contractor is a major step toward the completion of the park, made possible by support from many facets. Recently, the Carolyn and Peter Lynch Foundation gave $500,000 as a ?Challenge Grant,? challenging skateboarders and skatepark supporters to raise the same amount to secure the half million.

?I saw the young people skateboarding around the city and said, this is not easy. These are real athletes, they work hard at their sport it takes skill and balance but it also takes a commitment and a kind of determination and courage. I think those are wonderful lessons to be teaching our young people and that can be learned at a skatepark. So I saw this as an educational institution,? said Carolyn Lynch at a luncheon held in honor of the donation.

Also at the event was Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston, who said of the project, ?Kids need this alternative to basketball courts, baseball fields, especially in this very creative area that?s developed over the last several years. This place was no man?s land, it really was.?


Source:
http://www.charlesriverskatepark.org/releasegrindline.html
 
Re: Charles River Skatepark

Has anyone heard anything about the status of this? They had raised half the money needed for construction 3 years ago, then the whole campaign seemed to have just... faded away. The website hasn't been updated in years. The site hasn't been touched.

Does this strike anyone else as sorta fishy?
 
Re: Charles River Skatepark

Possibly. The sign for the skate park is still up though. Another promise remains undelivered.
 
Re: Charles River Skatepark

One of the best promises they made, too. Would've been great.
 
Re: Charles River Skatepark

Might have put the skate parks at the BPL and Copley Square right out of business . . .
 
Re: Charles River Skatepark

Boston skateboard park?s slow to roll
By Donna Goodison
Saturday, June 26, 2010


Thousands of skateboarding fans hit Boston yesterday for the two-day Dew Tour?s Skate Open and ISFSkateboarding World Championships at the TD Garden, but when will Hub riders have an everyday place to do tricks on half-pipes and grind on railings?

Ground has yet to be broken for a $2.5 million Boston skatepark that?s been nine years in the planning. And though funding is now in place, organizers can?t provide an estimated time frame for when construction will begin.

A long-term maintenance and operation plan for the Charles River Skatepark is being sorted out by the Charles River Conversancy - a Cambridge nonprofit that spearheaded fund raising for the project - and the state Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Construction of the 40,000-square-foot skatepark - set for NorthPoint Park in East Cambridge, under Zakim Bridge ramps - depends on soil tests and completion of a pedestrian bridge that?ll connect NorthPoint and Charlestown.

?There are a lot of unknowns still,? said Renata von Tscharner, conservancy president. ?There?s great support for the project. It?s now just a matter of figuring out the details.?

The conservancy initially expected construction of the skatepark would start in the spring of 2008, but that was pushed to spring 2009 with an expected park opening by the end of last year.

Construction of the skatepark will be funded with $1.8 million in Big Dig mitigation money.

The conservancy has raised $2.5 million for the project since 2004, and the remaining $1.8 million not used for its design and planning will be allocated for maintenance.

Local skateboard fans hope to have a role in the park?s operation and upkeep. The Orchard Skateshop in Allston set up a charitable corporation to make skateboarding more accessible in the city. The Orchard co-owners are in talks with the conservancy about forming an ambassador program of skatepark volunteers to handle duties such as cleaning up graffiti and spreading goodwill.

?We would just keep an eye on things,? co-owner Armin Bachman said. ?A lot of people aren?t acquainted with skateboard etiquette and the general flow of a park to keep things safe.?

The Orchard partners once had their doubts that the skatepark would ever get off the ground.

?Now, we?re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and hoping that our involvement will help be a catalyst to getting this thing built,? Bachman said.



Link
 
Re: Charles River Skatepark

I saw a lot of work on the parks opposite the Zakim today, next to the Charles River Dam. Prepping for the pedestrian bridge? Has that started?
 
Re: Charles River Skatepark

?There are a lot of unknowns still,? said Renata von Tscharner, conservancy president. ?There?s great support for the project. It?s now just a matter of figuring out the details.?
Click to expand...

What unknowns is he talking about? This has been planned for many years. You would think they'd have things sorted out by now.

Initially we were told it was just a matter of raising the money. Now that all the funds have long been secured, we're told they're still figuring out the details. This doesn't exactly instill confidence in the Conservancy.
 
Skatepark Charles River

So i was in Boston with my bro. at Suffolk this weekend. Got some sick pics will post later. Anyways, here.
http://www.charlesriverskatepark.org/involved.html

I was interested in learning more, looked at the site. Anyways, I love click the "skater" at the bottom to donate. That is definitely a biker!

Anyways, rest of the park looks sick and I wish it would just be built! I don't skate at all, but it will be cool and I know many people who do skate will love it. The rest of the Charles river park so far is sick.
 
Re: Skatepark Charles River

There's already a thread on it, probably under New Developements.

But anyways, I think the only reason it hasn't been built yet is due to poor organization, but they do have the funds secured from what I know. I think the project is also dependent on the pedestrian bridge that crosses the tracks from the Paul Revere Park.
 
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