After speaking with the owners of Theory Skateshop, I’ve learned some things I feel I need to share.

1. The cracks in the concrete do need to be fixed. After they reach a certain size (I believe it’s one inch wide) the town becomes liable for any injuries that happen because of them. This info comes from Chris Sparks at Park + Rec.

2. The picnic table on the budget was a mistake. That obstacle was from 10 years ago, and was stolen from the park. Still unclear as to why it is on the budget though.

3. The dog park cost $230,000, but 200,000 was from a private investor. The town only put up 30k for the dog park. This doesn’t really effect what our goals are, but was news to me.

4. Parks and Rec is neutral on the idea of lights at the skatepark. This is great news. When brought up, it wasn’t a “no”, but more of a “how?

Here’s how

1. Fundraising (don’t donate to this petition please)
2. New Concrete Slab
3. Lights

Let’s face it, the town will not be able to pay for all of this. Theory plans to use funds from the Nino fundraiser/memorial and possibly left over Converse grant money. This will also, not be enough to cover all these changes.

Reaching out to skatepark donors, like the Tony Hawk Foundation, is viable option. We could all flood their inbox with reasons to help out.

We could also start a fundraiser independently, but with covid hurting many people’s finances right now, it may be difficult.

My plan is to reach out to The Town of Agawam and see when the plan will be moving forward. When I know, I’ll let you know. 

I can’t help but be a bit discouraged, but with all this support for lights at ASP we may have a chance at making it happen.

Thanks again for all the support!