The components for Westbrook’s new skate park have arrived and are only awaiting a final coat of paving before the park can open for skaters and bikers.
Last Friday, a crew from Massachusetts-based Skate Parks Inc. unloaded an array of concrete components from large trailers. Using a crane and strong ropes, workers lifted the components and carefully transported them down to predetermined spots on the pavement.
“I’m excited to see it happen,” said Westbrook resident Kathy Poirier, who worked on the committee to get the park built and was on the scene taking pictures and offering doughnut holes to the workers. “I think everybody on the committee worked hard. I hope the young people will enjoy it and respect it for the next generation.”
The project was a group effort, indeed. According to City Administrator Jerre Bryant, the whole project would have cost the city about $100,000 were it not for the fact that the money and construction were donated by local businesses, including Hannaford Bros., Flannery Properties, White Brothers Inc., Pike Industries and E.A. Burns Fencing Inc.
One by one the components came down off the trucks, and slowly a blank slate of pavement was transformed into what will become a concrete playground for skaters and bikers.
While it looked somewhat dangerous having a four-foot high concrete ramp or a set of stairs swaying on ropes, head installer Dom Darcangelo said putting a park together is “fun.” He was in charge of measuring out where each piece would go to fit the layout designed by Westbrook skaters a few months ago with help from Skate Parks.
Darcangelo said the Westbrook park is the 288th he’s laid out in the 12 years his company has been doing skate parks. In fact, Darcangelo claims he invented pre-cast concrete skate parks. He said they’re much more durable and easy to maintain than parks with wood ramps, which need constant attention.
Randy Peters of the Westbrook Recreation Department agreed, saying he talked with the city of Portland about their wood skate park while planning Westbrook’s park. He said Portland is constantly repairing that park’s wood ramps, replacing screws and filling holes.
Peters said in coming up with Westbrook’s park, the designers chose a little for everyone.
There are small, wavy bumps for beginners. There are four-foot quarter-pipes and a rail slide about two feet off the ground for intermediate riders. There’s also a fun box, which is a square box with a ramp on each side and rails over top the ramps on two of the sides.
For more advanced riders, there’s a spine, which is two quarter-pipes back to back. There’s also a set of stairs with a rail going down them, as well as a six-foot half-pipe.
Besides the half-pipe, the components are similar to things the skaters find on the streets. “We tried to make it as close to a city setting as possible,” said Peters.
At this point all the components are laid out and, on Friday, Darcangelo was expecting a crew to come in and lay a final coating on the components within a few days.
According to Mike White of White Brothers Inc., he’s expecting Pike Brothers to be able to lay a final coat of paving on the park in the next week or two. After that, the park will be ready to go and all it will need is some finishing touches like grass seeding around the border and bark mulch on the sides of the access road.
With the help of a crane, workers from Massachusetts-based Skate Parks, Inc. unload concrete elements at the future site of Westbrook’s skate park.
When it is finished, Westbrook’s new skate park will contain elements, like the stairs shown here, that will duplicate an urban setting as closely as possible.
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