The rumble of skateboards and BMX bikes can be heard once again in Hopkinton with the reopening of Spirit Skate Park after months of fundraising to rehabilitate the damaged ramps.
The town’s skate park committee surpassed its $15,000 fundraising goal, raising about $18,000 in over the fall and winter. The park reopened in June to the delight of riders both local and from across the state and region.
“It’s a great park for New Hampshire,” said Dylan Bresnahan, 24, of Westminster, Vt. He was in the area visiting friends over the Fourth of July weekend when he snuck in a few hours at the park that Sunday morning.
A BMX rider, Bresnahan had used the park over the last 10 years when he would visit friends in the area. He knew the park faced some troubles and was closed in 2014 and again at the end of last summer. When he heard the park was fixed up and reopened, he brought his bike when he made the trip up for the holiday weekend.
The regional attraction is just one of the benefits of keeping the park open, said Sara Persechino, a former Hopkinton select board member and leader on the skate park committee. It also serves local kids who might be looking for an activity outside of school-sponsored athletics.
“Hopkinton is known for its team sports and a lot students are really involved, but some kids don’t find their niche there,” Persechino said. “This gives them a safe place to play.”
The park was first built in 2003 in memory of two Hopkinton students who died three years earlier, Robby Carr and Jacob Shumway. The park’s construction was supported by the boys’ families, and in 2006 they donated the park to the town.
The first few years after the town took ownership, maintenance costs were covered in the annual town budget. But as time passed, fewer and fewer dollars went to the park until none was set aside at all.
The park closed in 2014 after safety concerns with deteriorating material on the ramps. The town spent $5,000 to install a new plastic surface and reopen the park. But it only took one harsh winter in 2014-15 plus a summer of riding to damage the new material, and the park closed again last fall.
Town officials were not in favor of spending another large sum of taxpayer dollars on the park, but nobody was happy to see the park sit dormant either. So at town meeting in March, voters approved $2,500 to be earmarked for park repairs that would be combined with the committee’s fundraising.
And this time, a new ramp material, known as SkateLite, is expected to survive the harsh conditions of winter and be ready for use in the spring and summer.
The extra money raised will be set aside for future repairs, including smaller ramps and rails for new riders and to replace old, damaged signs around the park.
(Nick Stoico can be reached at 369-3309, nstoico@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @NickStoico.)