BRATTLEBORO — It has taken more than 15 years of work to pull it off, but the town will soon have a skatepark.
The most tangible sign that the project at Living Memorial Park is nearing completion took place two weeks ago, when concrete started to be poured for the long-awaited 5,000-square-foot skatepark.
Recreation & Parks Director Carol Lolatte said at an Aug. 27 meeting of the Brattleboro Area Skatepark Is Coming Committee (BASIC) that work has steadily progressed on the skatepark since a groundbreaking ceremony was held in mid-June.
Lolatte said the $350,000 skatepark - funded through grants, donations from individuals and business, and the town - should be ready for skateboarders to use by October.
Parker Construction Inc. of Hardwick and DMI Paving and Excavation of Brattleboro are the contractors working on the skatepark project, located between the dog park and the Kiwanis picnic shelter at the top of Living Memorial Park.
Lolatte said that the Department of Public Works also chipped in with help - one example, she said, of the collaboration that helped make the skatepark a reality.
Its name - the Perseverance Skatepark - sums up the effort it took to make it a reality after years of work by volunteers who refused to give up.
Spencer Crispe, a BASIC committee member who came up with the name, was part of the effort that started in 2006 to bring a skatepark to town.
That spirit of not giving up, no matter what obstacles were thrown at them, fueled skatepark supporters through the long process, he said.
Lolotte said that after the concrete is cured and sealed, and the rest of the site work is completed, a grand opening ceremony would take place in October.
BASIC Chair Jeff Clark, like Crispe, was involved from the start of the skatepark project.
“It's taken 15 years,” he said. “But we did it.”