2nd Annual Winter Carnival Skate Jam

Click image to enlarge.

Brattleboro Area Skatepark Is Coming (BASIC) is the recipient of a $5,000 grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation to build a skatepark in Brattleboro, VT.

The announcement comes following a unanimous vote by the town selectboard to accept the grant during Tuesday evening’s (September 20) meeting. BASIC is an ad hoc committee of the Brattleboro Selectboard and works on this project in collaboration with the Brattleboro Recreation and Parks Department. The group of local citizens has met bi-monthly for nearly two years with the goal of building a state-of-art, poured concrete skatepark.

BASIC was one of a fifteen organizations to receive grants from the Tony Hawk Foundation in this grant cycle, which altogether awarded $100,000 toward funding skateparks in communities across the United States.

To obtain the grant, BASIC fulfilled many of the Foundation’s criteria - the park is to be designed and built from poured concrete by qualified and experienced skatepark contractors and will be a free, public facility. BASIC also demonstrated strong grassroots commitment to the project and strong local skater involvement, according to David Longsmith, president of the BASIC organization.

Longsmith says the foundation grant lifts BASIC to over $50,000 raised and kicks off a new period of active fundraising, with the goal of raising the remainder of the estimated $300,000 needed to construct the skatepark and make other improvements to Crowell Park, including new playground.

“We thank the Tony Hawk Foundation for their assistance in our goal of providing skateboarders — young and old, male and female — a safe place in the community to pursue an activity that is both athletic and social,” said Longsmith.

Thanks to: Catamount Ramps for the elements, the Going Fourth Committee, The Recreation & Parks Department, and all the parade goers who showed such strong support for BASIC during the parade. See ya next year.

Thanks to Zach Stephens at the Brattleboro Reformer for the video production.

Our 2nd annual Go Skateboarding Day gathering at the Crowell Lot… be there. Catamount Ramps will once again bring in a truckload full of ramps and rails for your skating pleasure, and we’ll be tossing out swag and prizes from our sponsors. Click the poster below for a full-size version, then feel free to print it and post it anywhere skaters may be. Check out a photo slideshow of last year’s event. See ya there, peoples.

Brattleboro Area Skatepark Is Coming will host a Winter Carnival event at the Boys and Girls Club on Sunday February 20 from 4 – 8 PM. This event will feature skateboarding competitions with prizes and giveaways including Tensor Trucks, CCS decks custom painted by Keepers of the Shred and Mt. Snow swag, professional photography of you pulling tricks provided by The In-Sight Photography Project, movies, and free food from Bruegger’s and beverages.

A $5 cover is requested to benefit BASIC. All contest enrollees must fill out the Brattleboro Recreation & Parks Department Adult or Youth  Program Registration Forms at the links below:

Adult Program Registration

Youth Program Registration

BASIC will be sending out letters in the coming week to our community business leaders introducing our group and the skatepark initiative.  If you receive one of these mailings, please consider the one in five kids in our town that will use this park.  These are the kids that don’t make the teams, or don’t even bother trying out because they know they won’t make it.  So, let’s help them see that we support them by giving generously towards building what they tell us they want – a skatepark.

By the way, we have now surpassed the $15,000 dollar mark in our fund-raising efforts.  These dollars were collected in our skatepark cans, through sales of our “Skatepark-In-A-Box” and stainless steal coffee cups, and through personal pleas to generous organizations and individuals; including the VT Entergy employee’s golf fundraiser and the Windham County Bar Association.  Thanks for your support of this wonderful project.

Please find below a link that describes some of the pitfalls many skateparks have faced nationwide.  This article helps to articulate some of our concerns about building a park in the outskirts of town, treating meeting the needs of skaters as troublesome, and why building a park isn’t a simple inexpensive matter.

http://www.skatepark.org/park-development/vision/2010/12/how-skateparks-fail