Saving Salem Skatepark

The Salem Skatepark was once a vibrant, lively place teeming with plenty of happy skateboarders and scooter riders. It was constructed in 2004 with donated funds and had previously stood the test of time for 17 years. That was until the Salem Building Inspectors became involved. According to Salem native Eric Arsenault, One of their inspectors  made an appearance toward the beginning of the summer to survey the skatepark due to complaints they had received about the tattered ramps. About a week later the fence gate was chained and padlocked shut with no word from the Inspectors or The Town of Salem. The community was outraged. The town had taken away many people’s only local skatepark, a way to exercise, and enjoy their time outside and off their phones. People wanted answers and that is exactly what they got.

Some of the locals banded together to seek permission to rebuild the skatepark entirely; they partnered with a business called Friends of Salem New Hampshire Recreation, Inc. The town of Salem ended up being very helpful, they reached out to the hopeful crew and told them exactly what needed to be done and how to do it to make the skatepark safe. They then contacted a professional skatepark construction company to get a quote and create a concept for the new skatepark. The necessary funds for the rebuild came out to a whopping $100,000, as stated in the GoFundMe Description. Word of the rebuild spread like wildfire among the skatepark community. Salem local Greg Getchell created the gofundme to raise a portion of the $100k. A Salem Cafe called Crack’d even lended a helping hand by selling a “Skatepark Smoothie,” and a portion of each sale was donated to the rebuild.

 Local Eric Arsenault took things into his own hands by creating plenty of signs and Zip-Tying them to the fence. They read “Save Our Park,”  “Let Us Skate,” and “Let Us Fix It”. Arsenault has come to rely on the park for his sobriety after beginning to skate again due to AA meetings not being offered during the Covid-19 pandemic. “I started skating again. I hadn’t skated since I was a teenager,” said Arsenault, 36, “I caught fire with it. I fell in love with it again, and I got better again.”(eagletribune) Many others have used this park to overcome their struggles and have used skateboarding as an awesome method of coping. Skateboarding is now an Olympic sport and more popular than ever. Hopefully skateboarding becomes totally destigmatized as it seems to be heading that direction. Come on Salem, Let us skate!