New London skate park plans encouraged by city officials

Fulton Park could be a new recreational area

“Right now we kind of find wherever we can skate without bothering people... When there is no place to skate, the city essentially becomes a skate park.” CHARLIE KING, HIVE SKATE SHOP OWNER

New London — Backers of the longtime effort to bring a skate park to the city continue to gain encouragement for their plans to create a new home for skateboarders at Fulton Park.

Financial backing for the estimated $80,000 to $100,000 cost to build the park, however, has yet to catch up with the enthusiasm.

Hive Skate Shop owner Charlie King, founder and chairman of the New London Skate Park Organization, said the nonprofit group of two dozen volunteers has raised about $3,500 toward the effort and hopes to reach the $10,000 mark by the end of the year. He remains optimistic.

City officials are expected to aid the group’s effort to apply for a grant, up to $25,000, from the Tony Hawk Foundation. Larger donors and grants also could be on the horizon, now that the skate park’s plans are better solidified.

“We’re legitimate,” King said. “I think we’re gaining momentum and doing the heavy lifting to put ourselves in position. We’ve kind of got the framework, we just need the right financial support.”

King presented plans and a model of the park to the Park and Recreation Commission last month and to the City Council on Monday. The feedback was encouraging,

with the commission voting to approve the concept.

City Council President Anthony Nolan said it would be a “great asset for the community” and personally offered to match up to 10 donations to Hive Skate Shop to help donate skateboards for city youth.

More work must be done before the council officially votes to approve construction of the park.

Conceptual plans have the 150-by-90-foot skate park situated on a grassy area at the edge of Fulton Park. The streetscape-style concrete park will have elements to mimic obstacles skateboarders use throughout the city: half pipes, boxes, rails, pyramids and a stage, among others.

The idea is to have Mystic-based Paprocki Concrete create the park, an outfit that King said has “built the best parks in the state” as well as Sutton Park in Groton, the closest such facility to New London.

King said that while the city maintains sports fields and basketball courts, it has overlooked support for a sport that has gained popularity through the years and consistently attracts city youth. It is also a sport that is all but outlawed in the city, with skateboarders facing $115 fines from city police for skating in and around the downtown area.

“Right now we kind of find wherever we can skate without bothering people,” King said. “We just go where we’re not going to get kicked out, essentially. When there is no place to skate, the city essentially becomes a skate park.”

Public Works Director Brian Sear said that in his opinion the skate park will be a welcome addition to what is an underutilized and to some degree neglected park. Fulton Park is situated at the end of the deteriorating pedestrian bridge off Crystal Avenue and now contains a series of basketball courts.

The city is poised to spend $71,800 for work to repair a 12-foot-wide sinkhole created by a failed drainage pipe that runs under the park during a rainstorm in 2015, and which has continued to erode. Along with that work, Sear said he expects to demolish the concrete pavilion at the park that was compromised by the sink hole.

King said his group will continue a series of fundraisers with the next event from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. May 20 at Sutton Park. The fundraising events typically attract several hundred people and turn into social gatherings with skate competitions, food, music, prizes and raffles.

For more information, visit Hive Skate Shop at 176 State St. or call (860) 367-2650.