The Skatepark Committee was created in hopes of establishing the town’s very own safe, designated skating area. The committee, made up mostly of Catoctin High School students, have met with awe-inspiring council and community support from the get-go.
In just a few short months, the Thurmont Skate Park has gone from an idea to officially underway. "This is the fastest project we’ve ever seen come to fruition," Thurmont Mayor John Kinnaird said, marveling over the 50 by 80-foot area at East End Park, soon to be filled with skaters and skating obstacles galore.
Kinnaird said he and the other council members were blown away by the dedication of the skatepark committee, who initially brought forward the proposed project in April and wasted no time in gathering signatures of support, raising sponsorships, and holding fundraisers.
Committee member Patrick Dugan, told the council back in April, "Our town has lots of nice parks ... but the one thing we do not have is a skatepark," adding, "I feel it would also help with our economy because people would come from all around to skateboard and they would eat lunch at the businesses, and people would also come here and say ‘This is a place I might want to live because they have a skateboard park and it’s good for teenagers.’"
Stacie Zelenka, whose son Maceo is on the committee, often considered herself more excited for the project than the teens. "I can already see what this is going to do for the community," she said, envisioning the park to "bridge a gap" and bring the entire community together, including older citizens, teens, the police department, and government officials.
Many members of the community who the committee didn’t necessarily think would be supportive of the project, namely senior residents, really got on board and have been doing anything they can to help, Zelenka said.
"We didn’t think the community would be so involved in the opportunity to build a skatepark with us. As kids, we want to explore everything," Norman Montoya-Sorto, 16, said.
The committee took field trips to other town skateparks to get ideas of what the Thurmont Skate Park should look like and understand the process it needed to go through, Zelenka said.
Council member and liaison to the skatepark committee Wayne Hooper was amazed by the teens and how they "put their money where their mouth was," in raising over $17,000 to fully fund the park. The ambition and dedication that individual members of the committee put in, "will stick with him his whole life. They’ve shown me a few things. Hats off to the young people, you set an example," Hooper said.
The committee thanked the dauntless support of countless members of the community, without whom the dream could not become a reality, including Thurmont Police Department Sergeant David Armstrong and Chief Administrative Officer Jim Humerick.
The committee anticipates the skate park’s grand opening celebration in just a few short months.
