The official Lake George Skate Plaza Grand Opening ceremonies kicked off today at noon with remarks by Mayor Robert Blais. More than a decade ago, Lake George youth approached Village officials and asked for a Skate Park. “You guys go ahead and work hard to build a skate park,” the Mayor says he told them, “and we’ll see that it happens.” After dozens of fundraisers, including coin drops, spaghetti dinners and golf tournaments, and the receipt of matching grants from the state, the teens raised enough to build Stage One.
Construction was completed early last fall and area skateboarders, BMX and scooter riders descended on the park, bringing shovels in the winter to clear the concrete of snow. Today’s Grand Opening has a dual purpose, to celebrate the achievement and to raise funds for Stage Two. In an earlier interview, Tim Goutos, an early organizer of the effort, said he hopes the Grand Opening event will draw in a new wave of kids to join in the planning and fundraising needed to build the park into a facility that will attract major sponsors and competitions. The Grand Opening features free lessons, with equipment provided, competitions for Best Trick in all three sports, live music, food and merchandise vendors.
The Mayor drove home the point that this is a youth-driven initiative saying, “The young people designed this. The young people continue to design it. The young folks that are here today will decide what’s going to go there in Phase Two. It’s not going to be us, it’s going to be you.” The Stage One design left open space for new features. Goutos says they are looking at the addition of a bowl for the space, although it is up to the town’s skateboard, BMX and scooter fans to determine the eventual design.
The Mayor closed his remarks saying, “I’ve been involved in a lot of projects in 46 years; the park you’re standing in is probably one of the greatest things we’ve done in Lake George… We’re going to raise money for Phase Two, then we’ll raise money for Phase Three, and then we’ll raise money for Phase Four.” The Skate Plaza is located at the Charles R. Wood Park on West Brook Road in Lake George.