Future of Windham skatepark up for debate and discussion - By Anne Libby

On Monday, May 2^nd, there was a town meeting to discuss the state of the Windham skatepark, and whether to fix the old one, or create a new one. The meeting was open to the public, and nothing official has been decided. There were a few teens who use the park that came to help develop an idea of what they wanted in their skate park. 

One option for the new and improved skatepark.

“[The skate park] is an afterschool program for the kids,” one mother said. The people who were at the meeting all agree that something needs to be done as soon as possible to give the kids somewhere to skateboard, scooter and bike. To do that, the hope is to be able to save some of the original course and take out what is completely unusable. After reopening the skate park temporarily, the idea is to give more time for a development team to design a new course. Right now the debate is whether to create a concrete park, a wooden park or a mixture of the two. 

At this meeting it seemed the best option would be both concrete and wood. An idea that was also presented was the new park be created where the bike course section was supposed to be (directly behind the present one). This is not only to cut down on the noise for the neighbors, but also may create more space for parking.  

There has not been an estimate of a budget yet, nor a timeline for the creation of a new park. It is a priority for the committee to reopen what they can of the old park, to offer a place for the kids to skate again. 

The next meeting is projected for Monday, May 9. Watch for details. Everyone from the community is welcome to come and participate, especially students who use it and want to suggest ways to make it better.