Former Concord Schools Athletic Director Bill Whitmore remembers watching his wife, Jill, help create the city’s skatepark in the late 1990s so that their son had a place to inline skate. Decades later, his son coaches basketball at the University of Wyoming, and Whitmore believes it’s time for a deserved upgrade to the park.

For many of the retired people Jennifer Fletcher golfs with at Beaver Meadow, the sport is a bridge to exercise, nature and socializing for a demographic that increasingly sees those things slip through their fingers, she said. To her, a new clubhouse isn’t about serving “elites.”

Learning to cross-country ski at Rundlett Middle School led Erin Waters to pursue the sport in college. Today, as Concord High’s head coach, she travels with her skiers several days a week to private schools an hour away for their man-made snow-covered trails because the ones at Beaver Meadow are dry. It’s a draining routine, one they wouldn’t need to have if there were snowmaking in Concord.

Each of these years-in-the-making projects — major upgrades to the skatepark behind Everett Arena, the golf course clubhouse and the installation of snowmaking at Beaver Meadow — are up for approval from the city council in its 2026 budget. At a hearing Thursday night, community fundraising groups supporting each one pitched city councilors for their support. 

Not every recreational project needs, or receives, the same amount of financial investment from the city. 

As proposed, the clubhouse would get a jolt of reserve money now and its supporters would have a decade to collect donations. Skaters need to raise $500K upfront to unlock a grant, and backers feel they’re being overlooked. Meanwhile, snowmaking would be fully covered through grassroots fundraising — though that’s not a scalable model for every project.

Mark Hoban loves the city’s golf course; he hits the links most weekends. But he sees a double standard for the golf course and other recreation projects like the skatepark.

Skatepark backers have to raise $500,000 — half the cost of the first phase — to match a federal grant before work can start. 

The $6 million clubhouse would be funded by course revenue, including higher fees, alongside donations and $400,000 from the city’s recreation reserve, according to a new plan by the city manager. It would come at no cost to taxpayers for the first few years — something members of the public praised at the hearing as a compromise. Around 50 people attended.

Founded earlier this year, the non-profit group fundraising for the clubhouse project, Friends of the Beav, has ten years to raise the $250,000 it has promised to support the course. 

Skatepark backers want the same kind of deal. 

Ted Rice, president of the Concord Skatepark Association, asked city leaders to instead spend that reserve money for the $500,000 grant match so that construction can begin. His organization would fundraise an additional $500,000 in the next few years to finish out the project’s final phase.

By “grinding for years” to make the new skatepark happen, Hoban said, the group has earned more support from the city.

“All it takes to cultivate that passion is a fraction of the support we’re offering other activities in town,” he said, adding that clubhouse supporters were only being asked to raise 4% — rather than more than half — of that project’s costs. 

When it comes to the clubhouse, some in the audience and on the council worried that the new plan hadn’t been sufficiently vetted, but many from the golf community spoke in favor of the city manager’s proposal.

“It’s a reasonable response to taxpayer concerns; it’s a compromise,” said Linda Mattlage, who served on two committees that had recommended the previous, larger plan. “If this design had been proposed to the ad-hoc committee, I would have voted for it.”

Longtime City Manager Tom Aspell, expressing frustration with the long “gestational period” of projects in Concord, warned that the plan on the table, and its avoidance of tax dollars, might die if not pursued now.

“I looked at all the proposals that have been made over time, I listened to all the testimony that was given, and I think I've come up with a superior project,” he said. “My concern is that if you do anything, really, anything different than what I’m proposing… it’s going to cost you more money.”

Another improvement at Beaver Meadow — not golf-related — needs a thumbs-up from city leaders and the use of city water.

The $100,000 cost to install and operate a snowmaking system next year would be covered fully by donations.

“I personally have felt like I’ve been writing the eulogy for the sport that I love the entire time that I’ve been coaching,” said Sam Evans-Brown, founder of Ski the Beav, a nonprofit created to promote cross-country skiing for all ages at the city’s golf course in the winter months. 

The number of high school Nordic skiers in New Hampshire has dropped 35% since 2022, largely in the southern parts of the state, he said. That timeframe accounts for the end of Nordic ski programs in Manchester, massive losses in Bow and Bedford and a halving of the team in Concord. Without snowmaking in the area, he said, local youth teams are unlikely to endure the next decade. 

“When we have an off snow year, we lose kids,” said Waters, the Concord coach. “Those kids are not going to other sports, they’re not going to the basketball team...They’re skiing, or they’re not.”

Cross-country skiers will benefit from a new clubhouse, Evans-Brown said when asked about it by councilors. A new building would create a place for racers and beginners alike to store equipment, use a working bathroom and gear up, but improving conditions is his organization’s priority.

The skatepark, clubhouse and snowmaking projects are each in the financial plan under discussion by the city council. A final vote, and any substantial amendments, are expected June 5.

Catherine McLaughlin can be reached at cmclaughlin@cmonitor.com. You can subscribe to her Concord newsletter The City Beat at concordmonitor.com.