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Date: 12/5/2023
EASTHAMPTON — With the frigid winter months almost upon us, a new indoor space in Eastworks is quickly becoming a safe haven for skaters who want to refine their craft and accentuate their community.
Noah McManus opened the Easthampton Skate Club inside Suite 030 of Eastworks a little over a month ago to help fill a void in Western Massachusetts as the only indoor skatepark and community center in the area.
“The closest one is in Worcester, so this is kind of one-of-one” McManus told Reminder Publishing. “So far, people are catching on, getting the word out and coming out as much as possible.”
The 2,700 square-foot space inside Eastworks contains a variety of obstacles to help people improve their skills and learn more about the craft through various private lessons, after school clubs and open skate nights. By spearheading these lessons and other events, McManus wants to foster a community of skaters who come from all over the area.
“The idea is to really solidify Easthampton Skate Club as a clubhouse for the skate community and give them a place to go,” McManus said.
A 20-year skateboarding veteran who grew up in Western Massachusetts, McManus spent a lot of time absorbing the skating world across the country, and especially in San Francisco, which is widely known as the mecca of the skating industry. While there, he spent a little over five years teaching skateboarding at a middle school where he ran after-school programming, worked with city departments on summer camps and provided private lessons.
“San Francisco is literally where most of the skateboard industry is,” McManus said. “It’s a whole different world out there.”
McManus’ prior experience in teaching and supporting different skateboarding initiatives in other communities is serving as a backbone for the newly minted Easthampton Skate Club.
“Part of the imperative of this place is having a space where people can skate year-round because that’s how you get better,” McManus said.
McManus hosted a small private space for lessons last winter and then taught a small roster of students during the summer at a couple different skateparks in Western Massachusetts From there he put together a business model for a more long-term space and worked with the owners of Eastworks to get the ball rolling.
“After months of conversations, we found this space, and it checked all of the boxes,” McManus said, of the current 2,700 space that houses the Easthampton Skate Club.
After a successful soft opening during Eastworks’ Open Studios event in the beginning of November, McManus closed the doors to finish the rest of construction and then officially opened the space to the public on Nov. 18 for the first open skate event.
“It’s been great so far, we’ve been getting a lot of feedback,” McManus said. “We got our website going and we have a lot of new students and clients.”
So far, McManus said he has had skaters from all over the Pioneer Valley come to the new skate club at Eastworks, including youth from Springfield and Feeding Hills. He also added that the adult skating population has expressed excitement about the location.
“We’ve had a really amazing reaction to the space all around,” McManus said.
Although certain logistics still need ironing out, McManus is already working with a fruitful schedule. He currently spearheads an open skate block for ages 7-13 and ages 13 -and-up on multiple weeknights and weekends, and incorporates a roller skate night for all ages. Beyond that, he also conducts private and group lessons.
Additionally, the club is presenting a winter break skate program from Feb. 19 to 23 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day for ages 7-13 since school will be out that week. The hope for that program is to conduct something similar to what McManus was doing in San Francisco.
“We’re just trying to get the doors open, get kids in here as much as possible, and then figure out what the parents are looking for, what kids’ schedules really look like,” McManus said.
The plan, according to McManus, is for this Easthampton Skate Club space to be a year-round permanent fixture in the community, especially as Easthampton continues to work on finding a location for their all wheels skatepark. Once the outdoor park is built, McManus said he hopes to have the two spaces work in conjunction.
For now, though, his goal is to make this Eastworks space a bustling community center for skaters from all walks of life.
“I’m trying to make sure that this place is a welcoming, safe, and environment-friendly spot for everyone,” McManus said. “New England doesn’t have a gigantic scene, but there’s skaters out here, and they need a home.”
Readers can learn more about the Easthampton Skate Club’s schedule and programming by visiting their website: https://www.easthamptonskateclub.com/.