Support builds for keeping skate park in Camden; Select Board to discuss
A blast from the past: 2014: Teen Center skateboarders Gideon Baeza, Don Aviles, Simon Turner, Evan Yander, Connor O’Gwer, Tristan Anderson, Adian Aviles, Seth Yates, Jessy Fraser and Theo Penney. (Photos by Chris Wolf)
A blast from the past: 2014: Teen Center skateboarders Gideon Baeza, Don Aviles, Simon Turner, Evan Yander, Connor O’Gwer, Tristan Anderson, Adian Aviles, Seth Yates, Jessy Fraser and Theo Penney. (Photos by Chris Wolf)
CAMDEN — Parents and teens were socked this week with the sudden news that it could be lights out for the Starfire Skate Park, operated by the Teen Center as part of the Penobscot Bay YMCA, on Knowlton Street.
The news flashed on Facebook that the equipment might be going to South Thomaston to a park there, as the Teen Center property changes hands. That news – Camden Teen Center to move to SAD 28 Bus Barn following YMCA Knowlton Street property sale — was announced last week, but there was no word about the popular skate park demise.
All that changed over this past weekend, and now the matter is coming before the Camden Select Board Tuesday evening, Aug. 18, at a regularly scheduled meeting.
The agenda item merely says “YMCA Skate Park” under Discussion Items, but the public is fired up, and has been writing to the Select Board, urging the town to find a new home for the equipment.
Teens are also weighing in.
In a letter to Select Board members, Adelaide Kelly wrote:
“I loved going to the skatepark all of middle school. I'm a freshman going to be a sophomore at Camden hills. The skatepark is where I meed the only other girls who I know that skateboard and that's really important to me because it's very much a male-dominated sport and it's a great place for girls to meet other girls who skate or for girls to get inspired to learn how to skate.“If it's taken away then girl skateboarding is going to die out entirely in this area. And you are going to get a lot of complaints from tourists about kids going downtown and doing tricks because they have nowhere else to go.“Camden needs a skate park and kids need a place to go lean trick and have fun. I like many other people I got bullied in middle school, so did a lot of my friends who skate. But we could escape it all after school by going to the skate park and working on out tricks together and having fun. Please don't take that away from the kids of Camden and Rockport.”
In another letter, Finn Urey, 15, wrote: “....I use the skatepark very often and I know people from the ages of 9 to 30 who also use it frequently.”
He said he bikes to the Camden skate park.
“If the equipment were moved to Thomaston, I would almost never be able to ride my skateboard anywhere except my driveway,” he wrote.
“The skatepark has recently become even more important to me since learning from a police officer that we are not allowed to skate anywhere downtown in Camden, from the library to the Stop N Go.’
“During the Coronavirus lockdown, the skatepark also helped me a lot emotionally. Usually a late sleeper, I was willing to wake up early to meet friends at the skatepark to have fun and socialize safely before my online classes. It was a change from the constant scenery of my house and family and improved my mental state during the time of quarantine.
The skateboard park, on Knowlton Street in downtown Camden, has a 20-year history in town. MBNA built the park for the teens, and while it wavered for a period when MBNA divested of its properties, it reopened under the wing of the Penobscot Bay YMCA in 2009. Since then, it has been a local fixture for skateboarders working on their skills. See: Camden Teen Center's Starfire Skate Park readies for May jam
Members of the Select Board heard of the possible movement of the park equipment to another town and asked that the matter be brought forward for municipal discussion.
The agenda follows:
2. Public Hearings:
a. Route 105 Sidewalk Eminent Domain
b. Removing “No Parking” on Route 52 from Traffic Code
3. Approval of Board Minutes from August 4, 2020
4. Consent Agenda:
a. Approval of Victuale/Lodging Licenses:
5. Action Items:
a. Dierdre’s Roadside at 251 Belfast Road for a Victualer
b. Elms of Camden at 84 Elm Street for a Lodging/Victualer c. Marriner’s Restaurant at 35 Main Street for a Victualer d. Oliver’s Bistro at 115 Elm Street for a Victualer
e. Seadog Brewing at 1 Main Street for a Victualer
f. Zoot Coffee at 31 Elm Street for a Victualer
a. Animal Control Policy – Stray Cats st b. Snow Bowl Early Bird Season Pass Sales – September 1
6. Update on Established Priorities:
a. River Restoration
b. Climate Change Resiliency
c. EMS
d. Broadband
e. Renewable Energy & Energy Conservation
7. Discussion Items:
a. Moving Pop-Up Camden to Saturdays
b. YMCA Skate Park
c. Updates: Select Board & Town Manager
Event Date
Address
United States
