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Date: 10/12/2021
EASTHAMPTON – A new skatepark will be built behind Easthampton’s city hall in the near future, according to an announcement made by the organization Easthampton Skatepark via Instagram.
Angie Falkowski, the leader of the Easthampton Skatepark organization, told Reminder Publishing back in the spring that Easthampton Skatepark, Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, and other city officials had been thinking of specific funding methods and a perfect location for a city skate park. At that time in May, there were possible discussions of including the skate park at the new Mountain View School, but since they were not sure about accessibility, they decided the school was not the best spot.
Shortly after the May discussions, Easthampton Skatepark members, LaChapelle, and City Planner Jeff Bagg conducted a meeting in July to talk about the possibility of building the park behind City Hall.
“The only thing we had to do was get the land tested and also make sure that [Rubber Thread] pond was in fact a pond and not a lake or river, because then there would be some flooding issues,” said Falkowski. “We actually used some of the money from the fundraisers we did to have people come out and test the land.”
Once the city confirmed it was indeed a pond, Easthampton Skatepark received a message about a month ago that the location for a park was feasible.
Easthampton Skatepark is now working with the city to gather proposals from different skatepark designers to see what could be created in the amount of space given.
“Right now, our process is getting the proposals and then have a meeting next month to make things a little more final,” said Falkowski. “We’re still raising money for designs and continuing to have a little bit of cushion for unknown expenses.”
Over the course of recent months, Easthampton Skatepark has spearheaded fundraisers for the skatepark, including one at Fort Hill Brewery in the spring where they raised around $3,750 in donations from beer sales. They are conducting another fundraising benefit on Oct. 21 from 4 to 8 p.m. at Abandoned Building Brewery to raise money for the new park. Fifty percent of beer sales will go toward the skatepark.
According to Falkowski, the Easthampton Skatepark organization is also toying with the possibility of forming a nonprofit once the skatepark is built, especially since they will have more access to money and grants to maintain the quality of the park. Nothing regarding that has been confirmed yet. The goal right now is to work with city on proposals and figure out a time period for when a design can be built.
“I’m really excited to have something new that’s so close,” said Falkowski. “I love Easthampton, and I see myself being here for a while. Having a skatepark would just bring a whole new community.”