CASE FOR SUPPORT

City council is moving forward with building a new park in Newport’s North End on the corner of JT Connell Highway and John Chaffee Boulevard.  A full-size basketball will be installed in the Spring of 2023.  Next to the basketball court, a 20,000 square foot area of the new park has been designated for a skatepark.

Friends of Newport Skatepark (FONS) is a 501(c)(3) Public Charity organized for the purpose of advocating, designing, and fundraising for Newport’s new skatepark.  

FONS serves two (2) primary functions:

1. To be the centralized voice of Newport's skate board community to city officials; and

2. To privately fundraise for the construction of the skatepark.

Background:

To fully understand the present posture of the city’s years long efforts to build a skatepark, the background leading up to now is important.  

The campaign to bring a modern skatepark to the city dates back decades, but the latest efforts began in earnest in 2016, when Timothy Boucher, then a senior at Rogers High School, brought attention to the decaying, dangerous skate park located at Easton’s Beach.  

The issues with the Easton’s Back Skatepark were three fold: one, it was poorly designed; two, it was exposed to harsh waterfront elements of wind and sand; and three, and probably most unfortunate, it was not accessible by Newport kids – located miles away from any family neighborhoods.

By February 2017, the city had demolished the old park.  

Simultaneously, the Newport Open Space Partnership published its Newport Tree, Park and Open Space Master Plan.  Relocating the now demolished skatepark was identified as an implementation priority and an identified need.  

By June of 2017, Tim’s effort had raised $70,000.00 to build the new skatepark.

And while the old skatepark was demolished, and the city’s intentions to build a new, relocated park, had been established, the question of where the skatepark would be built remained unanswered.

The effort also encountered another hurdle: The Rhode Island Interlocal Trust (the “Interlocal Trust”), the insurer of cities and town in Rhode Island, would not insure a skatepark with features exceeding four (4) feet in height.  

This posed a real problem.  FONS wants to build a modern park that would keep all levels of skateboarders engaged and comparable to the parks now being built all over the county.  Before anything else, FONS had to focus their attention to changing the Interlocal Trust’s height restrictions.

FONS contacted the Interlocal Trust directly to discuss the updating and relaxing of current rules regarding the construction of skateparks in Rhode Island.   We we were well received.  

The Interlocal Trust had not reviewed the standards for skateparks since the 1990’s.  They also noted no claims had even been made related to a skatepark in Rhode Island.

On January 30, 2019, Scott Wheeler and representatives of the Inter-local Trust met onsite at the Lynch Family Skatepark in Boston, Massachusetts, a city owned, privately funded skatepark on the Charles River built in 2015.  The purpose of this meeting was to give the decision makers at the Interlocal Trust first-hand experience with the type of modern park that is now the industry standard across the county.  

Interlocal Trust first-hand experience with the type of modern park that is now the industry standard across the county.  

By June of 2019 the Interlocal Trust has updated its policies regarding skatepark height restrictions. We had the green light to move forward with planning and design of a modern skatepark for the City of Newport.  

At this point, the question of where the skatepark would be built remained unanswered, but tentative discussions proposed a park within the Abbruzzi Sports Complex located at the corner of Maple Avenue and JT Connell Highway.  

On November 13, 2019, a resolution was presented by the City Manager to the city council recommending the city seek funding in an effort to repurpose “the under-utilized T-Ball filed at the Abbruzzi Athletic Complex…to include a full-size basketball court along with a future skate park being planned and funded privately…”.  The council adopted the proposed resolution.  

On September 16, 2020, the council voted unanimously to accept $100,000.00 from the DEM to build a basketball court at Abruzzi Athletic Complex.  

On May 6, 2021, FONS was invited by the city council to a workshop to discuss the prospects of a skatepark.  At this workshop, the proposed reconfigured Abbruzzi Athletic Complex was met with fierce opposition.  Newport Little League was very disappointed in the city’s proposed plans of repurposing an existing tee-ball field.  And while council members made clear the importance of improved recreational facilities in the city, they began to question whether displacing an existing use was the right way to go about it.

It was also questioned whether the members of the immediate surrounding neighborhood supported the proposed basketball court and skatepark.  

For the next year, this dispute dominated the narrative.  FONS took no position on whether one use was superior to another, but made clear to the council that the decision where to build a part was their own.  And while we would do what we could to assist the city with the process, it was not FONS’ place to decide how to best serve the community.  

FONS did hear a number of councilors’ doubts whether the community closest to the proposed park supported the changes.  To this point, FONS had always operated on the assumption that the city unequivocally decided that a skatepark was an identified need of the city.  

In response, FONS took to the streets in July 2021.  Going door to door in the neighborhood closest to the park, FONS presented the proposed changes to residents.  Over one hundred residents signed a petition supporting a basketball court and skatepark at Abbruzzi Athletic Complex.  

On September 22, 2021, a resolution was presented by Councilor Ceglie and Councilor Bova requesting “to designate the use of the Theodore Michaud t-ball field at the Abruzzi Sports Complex to build basketball courts and modern skatepark and to relocate t-ball to another location in the city”.  After tense discussions, and over the objections of Newport Little League, the resolution was ultimately approved by a 4 – 2 vote, with the condition that an acceptable new tee-ball field was built before the existing tee-ball field was removed.  

FONS was excited.  Newport This Week reported “Skatepark Location Finally Approved”, but city officials meeting the condition of building a new tee-ball field proved to be more difficult than anticipated, and ultimately, the condition could not be met.  

By May of 2022, unable to accommodate Newport Little League, the plans to build a basketball court and skatepark at Abbruzzi Athletic Complex were scrapped.  But city officials, determined to bring a basketball court to the North End and relocate the skatepark, presented an alternative plan to develop a new park on city property located on the corner of JT Connell Highway and John Chaffee Boulevard.

On July 13, 2022, the city council took the first steps to making this new park a reality by repurposing the $100,000.00 for the basketball court to the new recreational facilities.

Following the vote, on October 26, 2022, the city council by unanimous vote designated a 20,000 square foot portion of the new recreation area for the purposes of a skatepark.  

Seven years after Tim Boucher launched his senior project, our skatepark finally had its home.

With a site designated, FONS has now turns its attention to raise funds to build a park that provides the city’s kids and families of Newport deserves.

AN EXCITING NEW PARK FOR THE CITY OF NEWPORT

A skatepark is the most exciting – and impactful - development project in the North End.  This is why it’s so special:

1. Location.  The new park is in walking distance of residential neighborhoods.  Once built, literally hundreds of Newport, and Middletown, youth will be able to walk out their fronts doors and safely walk to a full size basketball court and skatepark;

2. No Displacement of Existing Uses.  The historic use of the Abbruzzi Athletic Complex remains.  While the process took over two years, this park landed in the right spot;

3. First modern skatepark in Rhode Island.  With the Interlocal Trust rules updated, the city and FONS can build a modern skatepark, in line with what is bing built all over the country, that challenges all levels, allowing kids to progress and grow a love for an active, outdoor sport;

4. Skateboarding is inclusive.  For many kids, this skatepark will become a home away from home.  With no fees, coaches or expensive equipment, the barriers to entry are not like other sports.  All it takes is a board and a passion.

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE SKATEPARK

FONS has engaged Spohn Ranch, Inc. to design and build the skatepark Spohn Ranch is based out of California, and has designed and built world class skateparks all over the United States. 

Their portfolio can be viewed at www.spohnranch.com.

FONS’ decision to engage Spohn Ranch is the result of engaging the community’s most exciting skaters and the three of the country’s top park builders. FONS’ Design Committee met and discussed plans throughout 2020 and engaged three prominent skate park builders to submit conceptual plans. Ultimately, the designs presented by Spohn Ranch were the unanimous choice by the committee’s members.

A final design for the skate park would be approved by Rhode Island's Interlocal Trust to ensure compliance with its newly adopted skate park policies. Construction of any skate park would not proceed prior to receiving approval of the proposed design in writing from the city’s insurer, the RI Interlocal Trust. Of course, the City of Newport shall retain the right to end the project if conditions of the RI Interlocal Trust approval are determined to be too burdensome.