http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-nor.skate5jun04,0,1737...

Work rolls along at new skate park

By Donna Porstner
Staff Writer

June 4, 2007

STAMFORD - Construction of the city's first skate park is under way in Scalzi Park.

Workers are pouring concrete to form a 10,000-square-foot curved bowl that will allow skate boarders and inline skaters to pick up momentum as they roll from one obstacle to the next.

The park will be free and open to the public when it opens at the end of the month.

The city hired Grindline Skateparks of Seattle, which has worked on more than 80 such parks worldwide, to design and build the bowl.

City officials hope youths use the park, which cost $309,850, instead of marking up concrete benches and plazas downtown with their wheels.

The need for a public skate park was debated for more than 10 years before the city moved forward with the plan. Residents were divided over whether it was worth the investment.

Opponents said it would be too much money to spend for a small number of users, and the concrete structure will be permanent even if wheeled sports decline in popularity.

Some wanted a skate park but opposed the site, saying Scalzi on Bridge Street already is jam-packed with activities.

Despite opposition, teens and their parents came out in force over the winter to support the project, convincing elected officials it was needed.

Stamford follows Norwalk, Greenwich and dozens of other towns across the state that have built skate parks in recent years.

To please Scalzi neighbors unhappy with the skate park, city officials agreed to move the basketball courts, which abut a residential area and have been a source of noise complaints for many years, to the Washington Boulevard side of the park.

Parks Superintendent Mickey Docimo said Friday the courts will be moved after the skate park is complete. A date has not been set, he said.

City officials hope to host skating competitions and exhibitions and possibly offer skating lessons for children when the park opens.