The Concord Skatepark Association meets nearly every Wednesday at Feathered Friend Brewery.

The group, all friends who grew up skateboarding at Kiwanis Riverfront Park, sit at a square table and talk about their lives, new beers and much more while the rest of the room plays trivia. They spend their meetings reminiscing on memories at the park hitting tricks, talking about innovation and accessibility in skateboarding and – most of all – they focus on how to transform and breathe new life into skateboarding in Concord with a new skate park.

Ted Rice, the president of the not-for-profit, is a Californian who owns a screen printing company in New Hampshire but understands the power of the sport to the core. He said that everywhere he goes, he talks to skateboarders.

He’s seen how the culture has evolved. It’s not a “tough-guy” sport anymore and has opened up a lot in recent years.

“When you’re older you can make friends. It’s replicated everywhere, that skate park community gathering,” Rice said.

They dress in baggy pants and graphic tees, and some sport long beards, beanies and flat-brim hats, which is also known as the typical skater style. That vibe has remained with them through adulthood, but now they can fight for the next generation of skateboarders in the community.

Formed in 2021, the CSP was started when a group of skaters realized that towns across the state were getting new parks and renovating and growing their local skateboarding communities. Concord was lagging. At a time when the world was still stuck inside and beginning to open up after the pandemic, skaters could go to the old park to connect with others, exercise and enjoy the outdoors.

One of the CSP’s members, Alex Heath, has been skating at the park since its inauguration and hopes that a new park will open doors for a the youth. He said that he and many of his friends kept the park clean during the pandemic when Concord Parks and Rec was closed. The CSP painted over graffiti, picked up trash and patched cracks.

Eventually, that spirit snowballed into something bigger.

“It’s bigger than just our community; it’s the whole thing. The kids need it bad,” he said.

“The community is dialed in for the cause because of the struggles we’ve had. Everyone still has energy,” Sebastian Lazzara, a member of the association, added.

Many other towns and cities have built new skate parks around the state in recent years, such as Dover, Keene and even up north in Lincoln and Woodstock (Lin-Wood Skate Park).

Concord’s park was built in 1994 and has deteriorated over time, which has isolated Concord from the Granite State’s skateboarding community in some ways. From the outset of the CSP, members decided that it was time to mobilize the community to get a new park. Now, after four years of work, a grant for the construction of a new skate park at Kiwanis Riverfront Park is within reach.

The Concord Skatepark Association and Concord Parks and Rec have partnered to fundraise and build a new skate park at Kiwanis Riverfront. The city recently secured a $500,000 land and water conservation grant that the group will have to match to get closer to the dream that the CSP has been working on since its foundation.

The fundraiser is straightforward. All the money raised for the CSP will go directly toward the city to secure the grant match. First, they have created sponsorship tiers for local businesses. Ranging from “Local Homie,” a $2,500 donation to have your name added to a park sign, to the “Legend” tier worth $75,000 for standalone recognition at the park and all the benefits of lower tiers, the CSP hopes to forge partnerships to get the ball rolling.

“We should be leading the charge, not at the end of it,” Rice added at a CSP meeting. “Why is it that all the other places got new parks and the capital city hasn’t?

“We need to keep the energy for everyone: families, kids, businesses. What we need is for the community to be more aware. None of this is for us. We want it to be for the kids.”

In addition, they will be hosting their annual “Skate Jam” in the summer which will feature local food trucks, skateboard vendors, CSP merch and top-notch skating. In the meantime, the group plans to put on more events, design merchandise and take smaller donations as they roll out the campaign.

Donations to the CSP can be made through its website: concordskatepark.com/fundraising/. People who would like to contribute can also donate directly to Concord Parks and Rec by contacting them through their website.

The estimated total cost of the skate park design is $1.8 million, and the grant and fundraising would cover $1 million of that sum, so the sooner CSP can reach that first phase, the easier it will become to continue growing to build the park it wants. Earlier this week, the CSP and Concord Parks and Rec launched the fundraising campaign for the first phase of the project.

“Phase one would be to build two-thirds, plus or minus, of that skate park. Obviously, the Skatepark Association and the community, we raise all the funds needed. We can do the entire skate park, and reasonably reaching that $1 million mark would be a great way to get things going,” said David Gill, the director of Concord Parks and Rec.

This effort is part of a larger master plan that has been worked on over the years to improve the accessibility of green spaces at Kiwanis Riverfront Park, and Gill said that the skate park is the first anchor of the plan.

“When we build the new skate park, that area is going to begin to have a lot more activity and a lot more use, and that’s just going to allow us to continue to have the conversation with the community and city council regarding how do we fund another stage for green space. But it’ll be a multi-year time frame,” Gill added.

The design for the new park is by Grindline Skateparks Inc., which specializes in collaborating with local communities to ensure all stakeholders receive a space that will be skated on safely and enjoyably. It will be the first Grindline park in the state according as far as the CSP knows.

The CSP realized that many of the other parks around the state were very cookie-cutter and not made for beginner skaters, so for their design they worked with Grindline to create sections that allow for multiple styles and skill levels to enjoy and participate. The design includes street-style skate sections, flowpools and easy ramps for beginners.

“I think over the last few years, as a lot of families and parents, in general, have really turned to this (skateboarding) as a great alternative lifestyle towards other sports and just staying active,” said Chris Harrington, the CSP’s main liaison with Parks and Rec. “I think it’s just a good, good way for people that, if they are skeptical, to just come to our events or come down any day of the week during the nice weather and get to know the skateboarders. And I think they’ll understand quickly that it is a positive place and positive lifestyle.”

At one of the group’s meetings in February, Rice stressed the legitimacy of skateboarding tourism and that the park would benefit the local skating community, attract people from around the region and bring business to Concord. He hopes the CSP continues to foster engagement with the project and added that it will welcome anyone who wants to assist with fundraising with open arms – just like they would at the skate park.

Alexander Rapp can be reached at arapp@cmonitor.com.