PARIS – The final hurdle to building a $70,000 skateboard park in the Charles Street Park was overcome this week with news that Operation Skate Park will receive $47,900 in federal grant funding from the National Parks Service.

The announcement came in a Wednesday release from the offices of U.S. Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins.

“Parks, skating rinks, and other recreational establishments provide our youth fun, positive opportunities to connect with each other, while participating in athletic activities that encourage healthy lifestyles,” said senators Snowe and Collins in a joint statement. “This funding will provide the families who live in the town of Paris with improved recreational facilities for their children and a gathering place for the community.”

Operation Skate Park is a coalition of teens and adults that has been working for the past three years to convince the Oxford Hills community to throw its support behind the creation of a sanctioned park for skateboarders and BMX bikers.

In the spring of last year, the town of Paris agreed to lease the Charles Street Park to the SAD 17 School District for 10 years, at $1 a year. The school district would assume liability for the park’s operation and maintenance, drawing from a $5,000 to $10,000 reserve fund provided by the Skate Park Committee.

The National Parks Service grant will be combined with around $15,000 raised by donations from Operation State Park. Along with enabling construction of the skateboard ramps and other equipment, the money will enable the school district to improve the park’s existing playground facilities.

The small wooden play set, which is in poor physical condition, will be removed and replaced by a skate park, designed by the youth in the community. The basketball and parking facilities will remain. The grant money will be used specifically for the costs of site preparation, construction, landscaping and for fences and signs.

ggeraghty@sunjournal.com