After 5 years, new skate park set to open in Hamburg

HAMBURG, N.Y. (WIVB) — Skateboarders will soon have a new place to shred in Hamburg after town officials announced plans to build a new skate park in the town.

The park is set to be located on Electric Avenue and will open in the fall.

Charity Carrig, who is part of the project, said the location was chosen because it's centrally located between the Town of Hamburg and Village of Blasdell. The idea took five years to get off the ground.

"My husband and I are just two community members with a giant family but we see the need for it, I mean, skateboarding is now in the Olympics. It kind of blew up and it's a great sport," Carrig said. "It started with an idea. We pitched it and it took community fundraising, shirts, stickers -- all the things that you would do to raise money."

Jackson Carrig, 10, can't wait for the park to open. He has been skating since he was five.

"It took a long time but we're finally getting a skate park and now we won't have to drive half an hour to go to any other skate park. It just feels nice knowing that we have a decent skate park here in Hamburg," he said. "You could ride down, you can do whatever you want, and you can make your own tricks. It's just really fun."

The project will cost nearly $700,000.

"It's been a long time," Town of Hamburg supervisor Randy Hoak said. "There's been a lot of plans and we have made some friends in the Hamburg skateboarding community to make sure that we have a park that makes sense for skateboarders."