A $4,046.39 donation was approved for Dragon’s Nest Skateboard Park by Farmington selectmen on Tuesday night, Oct. 8. A $44,000 award from Maine Skateboard Association is expected for the park upgrades, it was announced then. File photo/Livermore Falls Advertiser

FARMINGTON — At the meeting on Tuesday night, Oct. 8, Farmington selectmen accepted a donation of $4,046.39 for Dragon’s Nest Skateboard Park on Prescott Street.

“Seth Wescott has an annual golf tournament up to Sugarloaf with the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce,” Parks and Recreation Director Matthew Foster said. “They have donated about $4,000 the past couple of years. That is how we did the design work for $8,000. Now they are donating again, which is good because we have that $110,000 match that we need for the other half of that grant.”

In August voters authorized federal funding for the park. Voter approval was needed because perpetual care comes with properties awarded those grants, Foster said in June.

Foster had other news to share about funding for the park. “Tobias Parkhurst, Maine Skateboard Association, he just emailed us today to notify us that they are giving us a $44,000 award,” he said. “That will pretty much give us the rest of the funds. We are just lacking $5,000. That should be an easy thing to come up with, so long as the LWCF grant comes through.”

If the grant isn’t awarded this year, the park will probably be funded next year, Foster noted. “So it looks like we are pretty much there,” he stated.

Chairman Joshua Bell asked how long Foster had been working on the skateboard park.

“It has been in the thought bank since 2017/2018 when we started looking at doing it,” Foster said. “In early 2020 we got a bunch of volunteers together to get things started. Since then we have been working hard on the grant process.”

“It is great to hear,” Bell noted.

Foster said the award from the skateboard association is the largest it has ever given out, with Parkhurst being part of four to six others being built. “He is looking forward to being part of this one,” he added.

Town Manager Erica LaCroix noted this was Foster’s last board meeting as director of Parks and Recreation, his last day with Farmington is Oct. 18. Foster will be managing the state’s network of ATV trails through the Bureau of Parks and Lands with the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.

“It is going to be hard to fill your shoes,” LaCroix said.