ANDOVER SKATEPARK

When I went to Andover High School my Spanish class window was right about where that American flag is hanging in the photo above. I had Señora Fitzgibbons and she would catch me looking out that very window dreaming about how there ought to be a skatepark where they had just lined out a dozen or so new tennis courts.

I had been working with the Andover Youth Services for a couple years, as a counselor on the summer trips, and running the snowboard club in the winter. One day the Director, Bill Fahey, mentioned to me that the town had just accidentally built a bunch of tennis courts in two rows, right up against each other. Somehow they had forgotten that you serve from outside of the box and sometimes you run around back there so they were considered a bit of a hazard and people were starting to complain.

The more we spoke about it, the more Bill seemed to agree that the town’s little mishap could possibly create an opportunity to allow taxpayers to vote on a skatepark as an alternative. By the next town meeting, which was held in the gymnasium of the High School in that same photo back there, we had the skatepark on the ballot and I was asked to speak for a few minutes as to why the public should support such a project. They raised their hands for a vote, right then and there, and it was practically unanimous.

I was so grateful to be set up with the ultimate dream job. My first summer out of high school was spent designing the park and then working with a few different contractors on the install. The initial budget was one-hundred grand and with Bill’s help I could manage that between the ramps, some fencing, a shed for staff, some picnic tables, and some bleachers. For the next five summers I would always come back from college to work at the park until fall.