Braintree Council Approves Money To Design New Skate Park

BRAINTREE, MA — The skate park outside Braintree High School took another step closer toward getting rebuilt after the Town Council unanimously approved allocating over $20,000 for design plans.

The skate park, which opened in 1999, is "very much showing its age," Assistant Recreation Coordinator Christopher Griffin told the council Tuesday. He said the skate park still gets a lot of use, and he expects more people will want to use it after next summer's Olympic Games.

The estimated cost of building a new skate park is around $350,000 to $400,000, which Mitchell said would be requested at a later date. He said there is a group raising money to try to cover some of the costs.

Griffin said a lot of communities built skate parks in the '90s , including Braintree, and they are starting to reach the end of their useful life. According to Griffin, a properly designed skate park could last twice as long.

The recreation department has reached out to skate park users to get ideas about the features they want.

If funded, construction could begin next summer, and the project could be completed by September, Mitchell said.