Seventeen years after the city built wooden ramps and set them up next to the old Bangor Auditorium, Bangor may be getting a new, modern skatepark — one that is a permanent part of the city’s infrastructure.
After five years of fundraising by local skaters and more than a year of discussions by city officials, several sites around the city have now been selected as potential locations for a new park.
Members of the Bangor skateboarding community met Wednesday night at the Mary Snow School with city officials to discuss location, design, funding and other aspects of the proposed new park, which would move from its current location at 531 Maine Ave.
“We are in a place now where we are ready to do this, and we want to build it in a place and in such a way where we don’t have to do it again,” said Tracy Willette of Bangor Parks and Recreation. “We’ve certainly gotten our money’s worth with the old equipment. It’s time to build something permanent.”
The three proposed locations for the new skate park are on the northeast part of Broadway Park, near the corner of Pine Street and Stillwater Avenue; in the upper part of Williams Park, off Newbury Street; and on an unused plot of land in the back of Bangor Parks and Recreation’s headquarters on Main Street, near the 395 interchange.
The skaters who attended the meeting voiced their unanimous support for the Broadway Park location. Its close proximity to a bus stop and to the public restrooms at the Dakin Park Pool were both major selling points, as was the ample space in the area, and the options for shade during hot summer days, something the Maine Avenue site lacks.
Funding for the skatepark will likely consist of both public and private funds and resources. The construction of the original skatepark was funded through donations from organizations like Bangor Rotary, Penquis CAP and others. Around $30,000 has already been raised through fundraisers held over the past five years by the Black Bear Skate Park Association. Willette estimated the construction of the park could cost around $70,000, with the remaining $40,000 sourced from donations and grants from various organizations.
Bangor’s first skate park opened in 2000 in Bass Park, next to the old Bangor Auditorium, where the Residence Inn now stands. The ramps were made of wood and metal, from kits purchased from a California company and also built by local contractors.
When the Cross Insurance Center opened in 2012 the skate park moved out to an unused concrete pad off Maine Avenue. That location was never intended to be permanent, but the park has now been there for more than five years, and the equipment is showing serious signs of age. During the summer, there can be as many as 40 people using the park at the same time.
“The ramps are in kind of a sad state these days. They’ve spent a lot of winters outside and they’ve really deteriorated,” said skateboarder Ryan Asselin, 26, a longtime advocate for Bangor’s skatepark.
Moving the park to a permanent home in one of the city’s park facilities would put Bangor in line with cities like Portland and Augusta, both of which have modern skate parks.
“I’ve traveled around the country and seen skateboarding culture in a lot of places, and one thing that’s really evolved is the way cities now treat skate parks as just part of a larger park and recreation system,” said Asselin. “It’s no different than having basketball courts or tennis courts.”
To that end, any proposed design for the new facility will likely be constructed of concrete in a “plaza” design, which integrates both street-style features like ledges and rails with ramps and bowls built into the terrain.
Willette said a second public forum on the new skate park will be held during the first week of January. To confirm a specific time, call Bangor Parks and Recreation at (207) 992-4490.
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