Skateboarders from across the region could soon be able to skate the new concrete additions to the Peterborough skate park as construction to add additions to the park could start as early as next month.

Efforts to expand the skate park in Peterborough continued as the Select Board recently accepted $17,000 to go toward the additions.

Chris Anderson, a volunteer helping lead the efforts and co-owner of Roy’s Market, said the park would ideally be finished at the end of October. He said so far they have raised just shy of $50,000 for the addition, with a lot coming from community members. He noted there was no official goal set because it kept evolving with the plans for the park.

To help raise the money, Peterborough Recreation Committee Vice Chair Kate Coon said the nonprofit Friends of Peterborough Recreation Projects, for which Coon serves as chair, holds money for projects like the skate park.

The money the Select Board recently accepted was added to the money the town was already holding for use of the project prior to the nonprofit being established. Coon said the total cost of the project was in the range of $40,000.

Anderson said what started as potential do-it-yourself projects evolved into a full fledged addition to the park. Anderson said the new additions would add concrete features to the park like ramps, stairs, banks and rails. Additionally, he said the current metal features at the park would be shifted to allow for more room in the expansion.

Eventually, he said, phase two of the plan would transform the park to be entirely concrete, but he said that is not going to happen until at least three years from now. Anderson said the department of works is planning to contract with Tailblock Concrete, a Brattleboro-based company, to do the additions.

“Let’s do something now and build more interest and support for the project and show people what it can do for the town,” he said.

Anderson said the hope is, after the addition to the park, it would drive more support to continue the efforts to better the park. Along with that, he said the additions to be added will be mellow and beginner-friendly to help encourage younger skaters. He noted a lot of people who use the park don’t drive there because they can’t yet.

“Let’s just build something smaller and mellower and really encourage entry [level],” Anderson said.

Former Recreation Department Director Lisa Koziell-Betz said this addition to the park will be great for the town and the children. She said she was unaware until more recently that the park in its current state was geared more toward adult skateboarders. Now, with the additions, she said it will be better for younger people. She added with the new additions, it could potentially prevent children from skateboarding where they are not supposed to around town.

“It’s going to be huge [for the town],” Koziell-Betz said. “It’ll be a safe place for the little kids to develop and explore.”

Koziell-Betz said this project wouldn’t be possible without contributions from the Adams family, who lost Eddie Adams – an avid skateboarder – in 2022 and other members of the community. Additionally, she said a memorial bench shaped like a skateboard for Adam Nation-Ames, a Francestown resident who died in 2008, will be placed at the park.

“I’m so happy they reached the point now that they can go forward and get that work done,” Koziell-Betz said.