Jacob Miller-Arsenault reported this story on assignment from The Waterbury Roundabout. The Community News Service is a program in which University of Vermont students work with professional editors to provide content for local news outlets at no cost.

The past few years have not been kind to Waterbury skateboarders. They endured the steady decay of the skatepark at Hope Davey Park in Waterbury Center before the dilapidated wooden structure was torn down this past October. Around the same time came Bolton Valley Resort’s decision to shut down its indoor skateboarding center, citing yearly losses in revenue. 

But the outlook could soon get a whole lot brighter for skateboard enthusiasts around Central Vermont searching for their next home park. 

The Waterbury Skatepark Coalition, a generation-spanning volunteer group that formed over four years ago, has been laboring hard to get a new skatepark at Hope Davey. Chief among their plans to revitalize the area are swapping the skatepark’s location with that of the basketball court (which would move to an area that is currently grass), doubling the skatepark’s size from 2,000 square feet to 4,000 and laying down a concrete surface.  

The citizen group’s plans need town approval first. But backers are hoping local leaders see the project as an asset for Waterbury, said coalition member Tami Bass. The park would be free of charge to skaters, except when used for potential camps, clinics or town-sponsored lessons. 

“(We decided) from the start we would not ask the town for any money,” Bass said.

Town recreation director Katarina Lisaius added that the group “took it upon themselves to say (the park is) in disrepair.”  

Instead, the group has raised about $100,000 through an amalgam of fundraisers and an anonymous donor. Along with fundraising leader Belle McDougall, pro snowboarder Jake Blauvelt, a Waterbury native, has been instrumental in the group’s campaign. He hosts an annual snowboard banked slalom race each winter at Bolton Valley, known as Blauvelt’s Banks. This winter the event is set for March 16 and 17, and all the proceeds are slated to go to the coalition. The group recently hosted an event at Stowe Cider to premiere Blauvelt’s new film, “Liminal.” 

To meet the final park construction estimate of around $170,000, the group applied for a $70,000 grant through the state-supported Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative. Coalition members expected an answer in late February, and should it be a yes, construction could begin as early as the spring.  

That hinges on approval from the Waterbury Development Review Board, to whom the coalition recently pitched its plan. If they get the board’s approval, coalition members say they plan to submit requests for proposals to reputable skatepark designers. 

The board held a hearing on the plan in February and asked for another one in April without making a decision, said Town Zoning Administrator Mike Bishop.

The board wanted the coalition to bring “an updated site plan and some other measurements,” Bishop said.

Even if the grant were to fall through, part of the proposed park could still be built with the fundraised money, Bass said. In the meantime, the group is considering future fundraising.

Another planned park?

Ferreira also defended Hope Davey Park and the proposal from some of the scrutiny that has burdened the area in the past, arguing that people tend to point fingers at skateparks due to the relative diversity of the crowds they attract. However, in the past some residents have complained of vandalism, drug use and underage drinking at the Hope Davey location — which received pushback at the time — and the skatepark’s proximity to the fire department has resulted in firefighters’ parking being taken up. 

To remedy this, coalition members say they plan to put up more signs warding people away from the department’s parking spots. “We all feel the (fire department) should have their parking preserved,” Ferreira said.  

The proposed site plan also includes a new gravel lot for parking overflow that would be available to anyone using the skatepark or nearby soccer fields and playground. 

The coalition is also eyeing the land in downtown Waterbury near the Ice Center as a potential site for a separate, state-of-the-art skateboarding facility. Bass acknowledged that the group will probably have to take a breath once the Hope Davey skatepark question resolves but said the group is excited about the Ice Center location. 

“The Ice Center-Perry Hill Zone is an awesome space,” said coalition member Jake Ferreira. “I would love to see the town put a renewed interest in revitalizing the pump track and making a place for more extreme sports.” He added that the Ice Center project would be far more extensive than the Hope Davey one and that the town making it a priority would go a long way.  

The coalition would pursue that same outdoor recreation grant. “They try to find locations for the group to have a continued effort, (be) allied in thinking and apply for a grant together,” Ferreira said. “That’s where having some town support would go a long way.” 

Ferriera grew up in Kennebunk, Maine, and holds a lot of fond memories of growing up skating there. “Skateparks are a really amazing place for all age groups,” he said, citing how teens and families alike can use them to hang out and have fun. Plus, he said, people tend to have success getting better at skating through their entire lives.