HAMPTON – Ross Weiller and some members of his skateboarding group, known around the Seacoast area as Danger Beach, had nothing but good intentions when they ventured down to the Hampton skate park a few years ago armed with several bags of concrete.
The purpose of the materials was an attempt to repair and improve upon fixtures at the park, a venue that not only was used by locals but those in the skateboard community from around the Seacoast as well as the state.
"(The town of Hampton) heard about it and said ‘you can’t do this,’" Weiller said. "We asked how can we do this that works for the town and allows us to make the skatepark better?"
Hampton Parks and Recreation director Rene Boudreau met with Weiller, and fellow Danger Beach skaters Nick Doucette, a Hampton resident, Cole St. Martin, Ian Dreer, amongst others over that first initial meeting. The group gave Boudreau their insight on how to make small but needed improvements to the park, and asked if the town could put some money back into the park.
Boudreau was able to allot $20,000 into a warrant article in March’s election. The money, which would come from a percentage of money taken in from town parking lots, would be used for renovations, concrete work and maintenance at the park. The article passed 2,617-503, and the work started shortly thereafter.
"The park always seems to have a handful of people dedicated to making it great and the Danger Beach crew has been the group the last few years," Boudreau said. "The skating community is very passionate and dedicated to skating. The park is by far one of our most utilized parks in town. We see young kids just learning to skate all the way to 60-year old's still ripping it up."
Rampage Skate Shop & Skatepark Equipment, out of Bridgeport, Connecticut was hired to repair cracks as well as do some other park improvements.
Rampage owner David Peterson has ties with Weiller and is doing the job at cost. Peterson and his crew have been coming up to Hampton on the weekends for the past month.
"We love building skate parks, this is what we do," Peterson said. "This community is behind it; this place is packed every day with skaters. Everybody is hyped with what is going on."
With the help of many volunteers doing much of the manual labor, and donated materials from various businesses, Boudreau estimates the true value of the work being done at the park is over $30,000.
"It’s just amazing to see people appreciate all the hard work you put in," Peterson said. "It’s just like watching a kid walk for the first time, I don’t know how to describe it."
Peterson says the addition to the park is in "the final leg" and hopes to "button things up" in the next week or two.
Once completed, Weiller says the additions will elevate the park’s reputation as being one of the best around the Seacoast.
"It kind of already was (the best)," he said. "There is not a lot of good concrete skate parks in our area. This is the best around, but it can be better, and this will get us there."
Doucette, 28, says the new additions to the park increases the skating area by 25 percent.
"It also improves the flow inside of the park and the overall condition of the park," he said. "I would say people see this as a need in the community to have a facility like this; a lot of people have stepped up over the years. I use the park frequently for my own recreation and I go down there a lot. So, I have no issues volunteering my time and efforts down there."
Doucette has heard nothing but rave reviews from people who question what has been going on with the park over the past few weeks.
"From ages 5 to 75, everyone has had a positive reaction," he said. "Everyone is seeing the sweat equity that is going into the park right now."
Businesses who have supported with the park’s improvement efforts include Benevento Concrete out of Wilmington, Mass., Tri-Rent All in Hampton, Aquarion Water, Jamco and the Hampton Public Works Department.
"The (Danger Beach) guys have been instrumental in the park’s progress over the last few years and are very active community members," Boudreau said. "The Hampton skate park is what it is today thanks to these guys and the crews that paved the way previously. The volunteer work is great, but the community voted for this."
For those interested in helping Danger Beach and its community involvement, please email dangerbeachworks@gmail.com.
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