Improvements completed at Deerwood skate park
BY TOYNETT HALL Staff Writer

PHOTO COURTESY OF HOWELL TOWNSHIP Howell officials have reopened a facility for skateboard enthusiasts at Deerwood Park, off Newtons Corner and Lakewood-Allenwood roads. Several ramps and jumps will put skateboarders' skills to the test.

HOWELL — An enclosed space with a slab of asphalt and incline ramps may look like nothing to the untrained eye, but to a young person who lost his skate park to vandals, those concrete fixtures are everything.

According to Howell Parks and Recreation Director Davide Fuoco, in 2001 a group of children attended a meeting of the mayor and Township Council to request that a skate park be installed at Deerwood Park, which is off Newtons Corner and Lakewo od-Allenwood roads.

The youngsters who made that request of municipal officials were skateboard aficionados.

"After hearing the children speak about the benefits of the park, the council members agreed and $25,000 was later added to the 2002 budget for the installation of the park. The park was officially installed in late 2002," Fuoco said.

"In 2006 certain areas of the park were vandalized. As a result, the remaining pieces of the quarter pipe (a piece of equipment used by skateboarders) were removed so the children were left with an incomplete park," he said. "Upon my arrival, I learned that $24,000 had been budgeted for improvements to the park. Therefore, I worked diligently to see that the park was upgraded as soon as possible."

Fuoco said that since the original pieces of equipment came from Spohn Ranch Inc., he followed up with the Industry, Calif., company to see what upgrades or improvements could be made to the skate park.

"After working with the skate park specialist, we finalized a design that would maximize the use of the area while staying under budget [$24,000]. The cost for seven new pieces of equipment was exactly $23,997.30,soour goal was accomplished. The manufacturer, Spohn Ranch, installed the new equipment," Fuoco said.

Before the improvements were made, the skate park amenities consisted of two grind rails, two quarter pipes and a center ramp with a grind rail. Vandalism to and theft of the equipment led to the park being closed.

According to Fuoco, the Deerwood skate park has now been restored and new equipment has been put in place. The amenities are a concave concrete bench, a concrete "New Jersey" barrier, a quarter pipe, a concrete grind box, a concrete park bench, and a concrete picnic table for all to enjoy.