Conservancy Skatepark Plans Applauded At Boston City Hall Event On April 13th
16 April 2004
With an appreciative crowd of almost one hundred skateboarders and extreme
sports enthusiasts in the galleries, nationally recognized skatepark designer
Zack Wormhoudt unfurled a series of plans for the new Charles River Skatepark
at an evening meeting hosted by Boston City Councilor Mike Ross held in Council
chambers at Boston City Hall on Tuesday, April 13th. The culmination of a long-term
planning process participated in by hundreds of "boarders," interested parents
and supporters from throughout Greater Boston, the architectural renderings and
site drawings shown by Wormhoudt represent a combination of the collective vision
of the local "boarding" community and the inspired thinking of America's leading
skatepark designer.
A monumental "full wave," stairs, ramps and railings highlight the
plan for the new Charles River Skatepark, a project of the Charles River Conservancy
at NorthPoint Park near the Zakim-Bunker Hill Bridge.
Using computer-generated "wire form" drawings, Wormhoudt synthesized a design
derived from three lengthy planning sessions held in the fall and early winter
of 2003 at the Boston Public Library. While the one-acre skatepark itself will
be located under the ramps of the Zakim-Bunker Hill Bridge in East Cambridge,
it will be immediately accessible to boarders, in-line skaters and trick bike
riders from Boston via paths and bridges across the Charles River. The new skatepark,
which is budgeted at over a million dollars, is being designed and built through
a public-private partnership led by the Charles River Conservancy, a not-for-profit
citizen advocacy group. The Conservancy is dedicated to renewing and enhancing
the Charles River Parklands, within which the new skatepark will be built as part
of the NorthPoint area, presently under construction
Wormhoudt's elevation drawings and site plans show a large, dramatically conceived
skatepark, over 40,000 square feet in size, featuring numerous "half pipes", ramps
and staircases, many designed in explicit imitation of the urban features in public
spaces of Boston and Cambridge where skating is illegal. The Wormhoudt-designed
"Extreme Skatepark" in Louisville, Kentucky has become a magnet for skateboarders.
The park has led to a dramatic drop in illegal boarding and youth crime and become
a busy tourist destination as well.
While not as well known as snowboarding, skateboarding and related extreme
sports came close to receiving recognition as an Olympic sport this year. With
over 1500 skateparks already constructed in the US alone, extreme sports are growing
a furious pace, with an estimated one in five local youth and young adults participating.
"The Charles River Skatepark is a combination of two primary skating terrain
themes," said Zack Wormhoudt, whose Santa Cruz, California-based Wormhoudt, Inc.
designs more skateparks than any other in the US. "There are transitions—terrain
that mimics empty swimming pools and tends to be more curvilinear in form and
shape—and street skating with the curbs, ledges, ramps, stairs, handrails
favored by urban boarders."
The new facility will be built from specially prepared and finished concrete,
which will be polished to a highly uniform finish. An enormous fullpipe—or
"wave"—will challenge even the most advanced boarders and skaters, while
spectators will be able to view the action throughout the park's numerous action
areas from the periphery.
Said City Councilor Mike Ross of the Back Bay, host of the evening's event:
"I'm really excited about the Charles River Skatepark, which I've supported since
I first heard the idea over a year ago from the Charles River Conservancy. This
is a great way for kids to enjoy what is rapidly becoming a major sport while
getting boarders off the streets and out of public areas where boarding is dangerous
and illegal.
"The new park adds a significant amenity to the NorthPoint area in the Charles
River Parklands and enhances the landscape of the river. I liked the design a
lot and the descriptive video was terrific, but the best thing was seeing so many
kids involved in the planning; that's rare and it's very special."
Also in attendance at the event, which began at 6:00 PM, was Superintendent
Bobby Johnson of the Boston Police Department. Johnson has overall responsibility
for public safety in downtown Boston, the Back Bay and Beacon Hill during evening
hours. He commented enthusiastically on the skatepark plan during the City Hall
event.
For the 900-plus members of the Charles River Conservancy and its president,
Renata von Tscharner, the event was a triumph. The skatepark is the first significant
recreational facility to be constructed in the Charles River Parklands in decades.
It will be located not far from the site of America's first outdoor gymnasium,
designed by legendary landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and built in the
1890s at Charlesbank near the site of the present-day Massachusetts General Hospital.
"The City Hall meeting was a milestone in a four-year effort which had its
beginnings in a student discussion in a landscape course I taught at the Radcliffe
Seminars some years back," said von Tscharner, who worked as an urban planner
before founding the Charles River Conservancy in 2000. "Now, as part of mitigation
efforts for the Big Dig, we are fortunate to have the support of all the public
agencies involved in the creation of the New Basin Parklands including the Massachusetts
Turnpike Authority and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation."
Early funding for project development and youth involvement came from the Tony
Hawk Foundation and the Boston Foundation. Numerous public officials and private
individuals have already shown their support for the Charles River Skatepark,
including Cambridge Mayor Michael Sullivan, Turnpike Authority Chairman Mathew
Amorello and former Lieutenant Governor Thomas O'Neill III, State Representative
and City Councilor Timothy Toomey, and State Senator Jarrett Barrios.
Continuing financial support for the project, scheduled for completion in 2006,
is vital and is no better exemplified than in the generosity of the CambridgeSide
Galleria, a large, multi-vendor shopping facility located in East Cambridge not
far from the skatepark site.
Says Galleria manager Issie Shait: "We think this is a great project and one
that needs to get done. Kids love to skateboard, but they have very few places
to go. We're glad to be involved because this gives us a chance to give back to
the community we serve in a very immediate, fun way."
With planning for the new Charles River Skatepark well along, the Charles River
Conservancy is turning its attention to fundraising. Naming rights to the skatepark
are still available.
|
