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Young Athletes Come Together to Help Design Boston's Future Skatepark
10 June 2003
Since its founding three years ago, the Charles River Conservancy (CRC), a
non-profit organization dedicated to the stewardship and renewal of the Charles
River Parklands, has been advocating for the construction of a world-class skatepark
in the vicinity of the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge. As part of this effort,
the CRC is involving local skateboarders, inline skaters, and BMX bikers in the
design process in order to get feedback from the park's future users.
Currently, skateboarding is the sixth largest participant sport in the country,
and the third largest for youth ages 6-18. The popularity of this sport, coupled
with Boston's recent efforts to ban skateboarding, inline skating, and biking
in public spaces makes it even more important for Boston to meet these athletes'
needs by providing them with a high quality facility at which to legally practice
and show off their sport. Though Boston currently has two skateparks (one in East
Boston, the other in Hyde Park) neither existing park is easily accessible by
public transportation, and skaters have given both parks mixed reviews.
In order to get a sense of what future skatepark users want in this park, the
Charles River Conservancy held a public meeting on June 5th at the Boston Public
Library. Over fifty parents and athletes, including local professional skateboarder
Vanik Hacobian, met with an architect and a skatepark designer to learn about
this project and give input as to what they would like to see happen with the
park. The first of several such events, this meeting resulted in a range of ideas
and comments that will be critical to the design of the skatepark.
In her introduction at last Thursday's meeting, Renata von Tscharner, founder
and president of the Charles River Conservancy, pointed out that parklands along
the Charles River have been a place for athletic activity for over a century.
In 1890, landscape architects Charles Eliot and Frederick Law Olmsted built America's
first outdoor gymnasium in front of Mass. General Hospital. In the 1970s President
Eisenhower's cardiologist, Dr. Paul Dudley White, advocated for bicycling as a
means to improve people's health in Boston and helped to create the 17 miles of
pathway along the river which now bears his name. By including a skatepark in
the designs for the New Basin parklands, the CRC hopes to continue this legacy
of encouraging healthy recreation along the Charles River.
With the support of many local politicians, state agencies, skate shops, community
groups, and local citizens, this project is quickly gaining momentum. Three Boston
City Councilors (Michael Flaherty, Michael Ross and Paul Scapicchio) write in
their letter of support, "The Boston area will be able to offer a world class
facility where residents and visitors can watch this athletic and artistic activity."
The Councilors continue, saying that this skatepark will benefit the city of Boston
by "reducing damage to City property such as Copley Square, City Hall Plaza and
Faneuil Hall caused by sports such as skateboarding."
Jarrett Barrios, the State Senator for this riverfront area (which is part
of Cambridge as well as part of Charlestown) says, "All of this new construction
needs a focal point, a place of beauty and excitement where people can gather
and community can be formed. The skatepark proposed by the Charles River Conservancy
will provide such a focus."
Other meetings with skateboarders, inline skaters and BMX bikers are planned
this summer. And issues such as security, policing, and maintenance will be addressed
as these questions are of great importance to the Metropolitan District Commission
(who owns and manages the land) and people in the surrounding neighborhoods.
Funding for this project comes from The Boston Foundation, the Tony Hawk Foundation
and the members of the Charles River Conservancy. For more information, call
Kristin Mallek at the CRC office or email crc@thecharles.org.
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