Die-hard skateboard fans dream of a new permanent park

April 17, 2021 | By Sidney Bewlay

Avery Bard of Waterbury Center makes it look easy at the Hope Davey skate park. Nathanael Asaro photo courtesy Jake Blauvelt

A new skateboard park is on the horizon for Waterbury. 

At least that’s what skate park regulars at the Hope Davey Park are dreaming of when they see the aging, deteriorating structures coupled with more people using the current park.  

Skate park champion Belle McDougall who was instrumental in the creation of the park a decade ago has put together a new grassroots effort with the help of Tami Bass, professional snowboarder Jake Blauvelt, and a group of community members eager to build a new, larger skate park in Waterbury.

The group is eyeing a space near the Ice Center downtown, adjacent to the Waterbury Unleashed Dog Park. There are multiple steps needed before plans can come to fruition but so far, the idea has been met with encouragement. 

“It seems like it could work,” said Community Planner Steve Lotspeich. “It needs to be part of a larger conversation.”

The site is part of the larger approximately 40-acre parcel previously owned by the Village of Waterbury but now under control of the new municipal entity formed when the village was dissolved, the Edward Farrar Utility District. In addition to the ice rink and dog park, it has playing fields, a dirt bike course, parking, and the trailhead to the Perry Hill mountain bike trails. Beyond the spot is a storage area for highway department materials like gravel and crushed asphalt. Lotspeich said maintaining access to that is important and also doable.

Town officials say there is interest in having the area transferred to the town government given that the utility district’s role is management and oversight of the water and wastewater systems. Those conversations are on the horizon, Lotspeich said, with an anticipated joint meeting in the near future between the utility district commissioners and the Waterbury Select Board. 

The concept for the park, which would need about 15,000 square feet, would require permitting including review under Act 250, Vermont’s land-use law, because the original rink development received an Act 250 permit. 

The skate park group is aiming to start by raising enough to pay for materials and construction, estimated around $300,000 to $400,000. Bass, a member and recent president of the Waterbury Rotary Club said the Rotary has already donated $5,000 to kickstart the project. 

Coming home 

That’s where professional snowboarder and Waterbury Center resident Jake Blauvelt comes in. A fan of the original park, Blauvelt is on board to drum up support for a larger, more permanent replacement. He’s using social media where he has over 55,000 followers, posting on his Instagram account about the concept. 

Blauvelt grew up in Waterbury Center, snowboarding at Bolton Valley and Stowe. Competing from a young age, he won the Slopestyle at the 2004 U.S. Open and went on to become a backcountry snowboarding video star. He returned to Vermont a few years ago to Waterbury Center where he and his wife are raising their young daughters. 

A young Asa Moskowitz puts in some time on the course in the early days of the Waterbury skate park at Hope Davey Park in Waterbury Center. File photo by Gordon Miller

Blauvelt said he learned to skate in Waterbury Center in the 1990s, when there was no skate park. Blauvelt recalls skating wherever he and his friends could find a spot, oftentimes resulting in being asked to leave by store owners or police. He lights up at the thought of a new downtown skate park. “If this had been built when I was a kid, I would’ve been pumped, it would have been amazing,” he said. 

The current skate park tucked behind the Waterbury Fire Station at Hope Davey Park is a busy spot, often attracting skaters from outside of Waterbury.

Issues arose last year at the park including litter, vandalism, and underage drinking and drug use. Fire Chief Gary Dillon last year raised these concerns with the Waterbury Select Board explaining hassles firefighters were dealing with given the close proximity to the park. 

Recreation Director Nick Nadeau got involved to work with park users and beef up signage and lighting. The extra effort diffused the bad behavior that McDougall attributed to “bad actors.” 

Eventually the skate park at Hope Davey Park will need to be deconstructed but organizers for the new park say volunteers active with the existing park are planning to keep the Hope Davey skateboard area in good condition through 2022.

Ideally, McDougall said, the original park may have some well-maintained features remaining. The area could also be repurposed simply as a blacktop surface for basketball and beginner skaters. None of those details have been addressed yet in this process. 

Imagining a ‘proper skate park’

Bass, McDougall and Blauvelt all agree that they would rather put energy into building a larger and longer-lasting park made from concrete, what Blauvelt describes as a “proper skate park, like the ones popular on the West Coast where it feels like every little town has one.”

They are optimistic that construction could happen as soon as summer or fall 2022.

Blauvelt said he hopes he can leverage his social media and events such as his annual  Blauvelt’s Banks competition – a snowboard bank slalom race at Bolton Valley – for fundraising. He said he’s already received hundreds of positive messages of encouragement along with offers to donate time, funds, materials, and other resources.

According to McDougall, users of the current park have shown the most enthusiastic support to form the core group that will move the project forward.  

No designs have been created yet but the concept is to model the new park after larger existing skate parks in Burlington and Manchester, and even Falmouth, Massachusetts. 

Noting that skateboarding has become an Olympic sport, Blauvelt says he’s excited to create a long-lasting park that users of all ages would enjoy. It might even have a ripple effect in the community. “It also would drive the local economy with more visitors to shops, restaurants, and bars in town if people are coming to visit to use the park,” Blauvelt said.

Fundraising has been off to a slow start due to the COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings but project organizers hope to launch some supporting events this summer and fall. 

Blauvelt said he is eager for his Banks competition to return next winter as a fundraiser that can get the snowsports community involved in supporting the skate park project. McDougall said the design phase will include community engagement. “The coalition would like community input for thoughtfully designing features in the park that attracts skaters at all different levels,” McDougall said, stressing that the project “must be safe and accessible for all ages, levels, and abilities.” 

Looking even further ahead, project organizers say the ultimate goal will be for the park to eventually generate enough income to be self-sustaining through ongoing fundraising and events such as summer camps and competitions.

Ultimately, McDougall said, the project is about community and recreation – things people have come to appreciate more during a pandemic. “The goal of the committee is to get Vermont families outside, recreating together with other families,” she said. 

Blauvelt agreed. “With COVID-19, everyone seems to have a new appreciation for healthy outdoor activities. The new skate park would be a healthy asset to the community,” he said. “The park will get tons of use and I think kids will be pumped to use it. I’m stoked that my kids can have access to it in the years ahead and to use it myself.”