CCB MEDIA PHOTO
Attendees of a skatepark visioning session in Falmouth vote on what elements they want in the town’s new skate park.
FALMOUTH – A former professional skateboarder came to Falmouth this week for a skateboard park design visioning workshop, an opportunity to talk to local skateboard enthusiasts about what they want their new skateboard park to look like.
Kanten Russell, project manager and lead designer for the Action Sport Group of the international architectural firm Stantec, came to Cape Cod from San Diego to make his presentation for a new approximately $300,000 to $350,000 skatepark for Falmouth.
Russell is also involved in designing the Charles River Skatepark in Boston, which he said is an $800,000 project.
Dr. Keith Bleiler of Falmouth began the effort to fundraise and construct a new skatepark about eight years ago. He said the meeting this week, which took place Monday evening in the Hermann Meeting Room at Falmouth Public Library, was a chance for community members to meet the skatepark designer and vice versa.
Bleiler said the project has already been the beneficiary of a grant of Community Preservation funds, as well as several additional large grants, bringing the total funding to about $250,000.
He said the goal is to raise another $50,000 to $75,000, which, with in-kind donations, would be enough to build a $350,000 skate park.
This week’s meeting was attended by about a dozen teens and twenty somethings many of whom are long-time users of Falmouth’s skatepark off Gifford Street.
Bleiler said he put posters up at the skateboard park and local skater shops to let local skateboarders know about the meeting.
The discussion centered on bowls, ramps rails and other elements of skateboard parks.
Organizers expect to break ground on the park next spring.
By LAURA M. RECKFORD, CapeCod.com News Editor
