(Vista, CA) – As the nation continues to overcome COVID-19 challenges, locally run skatepark projects are still in progress. Advocates from all over the country are working hard to provide a free and accessible skatepark for their community to enjoy. Out of the hundreds of communities that we provide technical assistance to each quarter, around thirty projects applied for a TSP Skatepark Construction Grant.
With the help of the Grants Committee and approval of TSP’s Board of Directors, we’re pleased to announce this semester’s grant recipients. These applicants followed skatepark project best practices and demonstrated excellent community engagement in areas of need.
SUMMER 2021 TSP SKATEPARK GRANT RECIPIENTS (scroll down to view skatepark designs)
Duluth, MN – $5,000 (Alex LeVasseur Memorial Grant)
Rustin, LA – $10,000
Leominster, MA – $10,000
Huntsville, AL – $10,000 (Alex LeVasseur Memorial Grant)
Evansville, IN – $10,000
Kamiah, ID – $5,000
Superior, MT – $5,000
Prairie du Sac, WI – $2,500
Project Recognition Grants
Hagerstown, MD – $1,000
Greenwood Lake, NY – $1,000
Dover, DE – $1,000
Bangor, ME – $1,000
SUMMER 2021 BUILT TO PLAY SKATEPARK GRANT RECIPIENTS
The Skatepark Project’s partnership with the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation continues, and we’re fully stoked to welcome the towns of Sweden and Hamburg, NY into the Built to Play Skatepark family! With our help, these two towns in WNY have pulled together representatives from their communities, municipalities, and businesses to create a vision for their public skateparks, and an action plan to make it happen. All it takes is one person to spark the skatepark fire in a community. If you’re that spark, contact us and we’ll help you stoke your skatepark project fire!
Hamburg, NY – $300,000
Town of Sweden, NY – $300,000
Technical Assistance
Many of this semester’s grant recipients were receiving ongoing Technical Assistance from The Skatepark Project staff. While TSP Skatepark Grants provide both tangible financial assistance and an exclusive status that often attracts other grants and donations, the core work of The Skatepark Project is to educate both skatepark advocates and local leaders on the process of developing a proper skatepark.
Communities seeking to develop public skateparks should begin by studying the information at www.publicskateparkguide.org, which covers every step of the skatepark process, from creating a vision to skatepark design and construction. For communities further along in the process, the next grant cycle window opens on December 15th, 2020. Learn more about The Skatepark Project Grants and Built to Play Grants.
Spring 2021 Granted Project Designs
Duluth, MN – $5,000 (Alex LeVasseur Memorial Grant)
Rustin, LA – $10,000
Leominster, MA – $10,000
Huntsville, AL – $10,000 (Alex LeVasseur Memorial Grant)
Evansville, IN – $10,000
“The Skatepark Project has been instrumental in helping us make our park a reality. From starting the process, informational statistics to share with our local government, letters of support, and now this $10,000 grant! Having The Skatepark Project support and believe in Sunset Skatepark has incentivized many others to jump on board – financially and as advocates – for a project that is long past due upgrade for our community. Thanks so much for all you do!!”
-Heather Vaught, Volunteer Project Coordinator
Kamiah, ID – $5,000
Superior, MT – $5,000
Prairie du Sac, WI – $2,500
Project Recognition Grants
Hagerstown, MD – $1,000“Receiving support from the Skatepark Project not only helped to further legitimize our local team’s efforts, but validated the young skater in me that I didn’t know needed it so bad.“ – Phil Scholaro ( Social Media-less )“The advice and tips we received from ‘ The Skatepark Project ‘ throughout the early planning stages of our local skatepark project was a pivotal piece to our success in obtaining various grants and unanimous approval of our park from our city and county governments. The moment we heard the words from Alec that we are approved and have the support of ‘The Skatepark Project’ it gave our entire group chills of excitement and even more motivation to make this dream a reality for our community. Truly is a moment none of us will ever forget.“ – Will Boyer ( @billiamwoyer )
Greenwood Lake, NY – $1,000
(placeholder design)
Dover, DE – $1,000
“Receiving The Skatepark Project Recognition (TSP) Grant confirmed our community’s goal of having a state-of-the art Skatepark. The TSP Recognition Grant is akin to receiving a “Gold Medal Seal of Approval” for our efforts. The application process was thorough, comprehensive, and very clear as to what was needed, and the staff was readily available to answer any questions. TSP’s application process provided critical links to databases where we could find current statistics on our most vulnerable people – especially our vulnerable youth. The City’s planning for this process has been open and participatory, but the way The Skatepark Project worked with us, and engaged with our skate community was inspiring. One participant said that the process renewed his faith in local government.”– the City of Dover, DE
Bangor, ME – $1,000
Built to Play project grants often activate before the community design is in place.
If you have interest in creating a skatepark in your town, The Skatepark Project has resources to help you get started and information on how to apply for a skatepark construction grant.
Feel free to contact The Skatepark Project if you have any questions or need project support.
To-date, almost 600 recipients of grants from The Skatepark Project have opened their skateparks. These parks receive more than 6-million visits annually by youth who benefit from the active lifestyle and camaraderie the facilities promote.
After receiving thousands of e-mails from parents and children across America who did not have a safe, legal place to skate and in some cases arrested for skating on public property, Tony Hawk decided to establish a nonprofit organization whose mission would be to serve this population. He wanted to help them develop quality places to practice the sport that gives them much needed exercise and a sense of self-esteem. So in 2002 he established the Tony Hawk Foundation, financed the organization with a personal gift, and assembled a Board of Directors that represents a diverse range of backgrounds and expertise. In 2020, the organization changed its name to The Skatepark Project to more closely reflect the work it does.
Since its inception, the The Skatepark Project has been helping underserved communities create safe and inclusive public skateparks for youth.The organization favors projects that have strong community involvement, grassroots fundraising, and a base of support from the skaters, parents, law enforcement, and local leaders.
In recent years, hundreds of municipalities have come to embrace the recreational—and societal—benefits of skateboard parks. With the popularity of skateboarding fueling the rush to build them, the need for help from The Skatepark Project has become more urgent and critical. Most cities in the process of building a public skatepark are working on their first, and for them there is no precedent, no blueprint. Once the cement is poured and formed, there is no changing it. All the right questions must be addressed before that step. The Skatepark Project was established to help cities develop that checklist and ensure that the hard work of skaters, parents, and city officials will result in a quality skatepark that will serve that community for years to come. The organization also supports International programs, like Skateistan, that enrich the lives of youth through skateboarding.
Since 2002 The Skatepark Project has been fulfilling its mission to help young people by issuing grants to low-income communities building quality public skateparks, and providing guidance to city officials, parents, and children through the process. To-date, the foundation has awarded over $10-million to more than 600 public skatepark projects in all 50 States, and $150,000 to support the Skateistan program in Afghanistan, Cambodia, and South Africa.
To-date, 575 recipients of The Skatepark Project grants have opened their skateparks. These parks receive more than 6-million visits annually by youth who benefit from the active lifestyle and camaraderie the facilities promote.
The Skatepark Project supports disadvantaged communities and at-risk children. We are the only national grant-writing organization focused solely on the development and financing of free, quality public skateparks. We know that skateparks provide a safe and inspiring avenue for skaters to practice and excel at their sport, and the process of developing their local skatepark encourages and teaches young people about how to make positive changes within their own communities.
The Skatepark Project has been working with municipalities and community groups to help them realize their dream of a quality public skatepark in their community. For Tony Hawk, the organization’s Founder, skateboarding was a healthy outlet and a recreational challenge, and it provided a social group of creative, like-minded individuals. It’s also a sport that helped him build confidence, taught him to persevere, and through his mentoring of younger skaters helped him develop leadership skills. The Skatepark Project works every day to be able to bring these same lessons to youth around the world.
The Skatepark Project is a BRA Community Partner.
If you are not yet a BRA Retail Member, you can easily opt in to either Regular (no cost) or Distinguished ($99/yr.) Membership via this super simple join form