Skate park opens to delight of ‘boarders
By natalie m. vena
Staff Writer

MARIE ORTIZ Kevin Lyons, 17, performs bike tricks on a new ramp at the grand opening of the skate park in Veteran’s Park in Old Bridge on Saturday.

The first skate park ever constructed in Old Bridge is officially open.

The long-awaited skating facility held its grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday in Veteran’s Park, located on Englishtown Road.

"We are always looking to be responsive to recreation needs in our town," said Mayor Barbara Cannon, "and this skate park is a welcome addition."

The site is complete with ramps and jumps suitable for skateboarding, BMX bicycles and inline skates. The facility is completely fenced in and all participants must wear a helmet, knee pads and elbow pads. A special police officer will patrol the site during operating hours.

Entry to the skate park is free, and it will be open to the general public weekdays from 2 p.m. until dusk, and on weekends and holidays from 8 a.m. until dusk.

The idea for building a skate park in Old Bridge came mainly from township youngsters who were tired of being chased by local merchants and police while they were practicing and riding their skateboards.

Local boys attended several council meetings in April, urging the council to designate a specific area where they could practice their sport.

The skateboarders emphasized that skateboarding is a serious sport, just like baseball and basketball, and therefore deserves its own facility.

The township paid for the construction of the park with a small portion of the $3 million allocated for bonding projects throughout the township. Of that money, $100,000 was set aside for the design and development of the park.

Director of Parks and Recreation Tom Badcock worked for several months with a select group of young skateboarders to come up with the design for the park.

The park was constructed by Hot Rails Inc., Orange, one of the foremost skate park builders on the East Coast, according to Badcock.

The facility was built on an asphalt surface, similar to a basketball court. Precast concrete ramps weighing between 600 to 800 pounds were strategically set in place.

The park contains numerous ramps including a 4-by-16-foot quarter pipe, a 16-by-6-foot grind wall that’s 24 feet long, a street spine, a quarter pipe with wall ride, a bank ramp, a half pipe, a grind box, and a grind rail.

Veteran’s Park also contains soccer fields, Little League baseball fields, softball fields, and tennis and basketball courts.