Federal award of $487k brings total funding up to 80% of overall price tag

By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

(Oct. 15, 2026) The dream of a skate park in Berlin took a major step forward last week after the project was awarded a grant for nearly $500,000 to bring total funding for construction to 80% of what is required.

Tony Weeg, the Berlin Town Council’s new District 4 representative and founder of the non-profit We Heart Berlin, announced on Facebook last week that the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund awarded the skate park $487,500.

“This is basically 50% of the base cost for the skate park and puts us at 80% total, which is a dream come true,” Weeg said.

The good news comes just months after the announcement of another hefty grant for the skate park (renderings pictured). In August, project leaders reported it had received $300,000 through the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ Community Parks and Playgrounds Program.

With these grants, the skate park project, to be built in Heron Park is closing in on the $975,000 it needs to begin construction.

Project leaders will seek contributions and in-kind donations from local businesses and community members to bring in the remaining $142,500.

“The reality is, some of that is going to be coming in the form of donations of work and dirt and rocks and other things like that,” Weeg said. “Companies have already sort of offered to give us some breaks.

“So, it’s sort of a rough number that we need to raise at the end, but at this point, any extra will go towards lighting and sail shade and extra concrete.”

The Salisbury-based Parker & Associates, for instance, have donated a stormwater and topographical survey.

Weeg said a few other private donors have told him they would contribute up to $25,000 each. The We Heart Berlin founder added that he also plans to ask the Humphreys Foundation about the possibility of financial support.

Weeg said features such as shade sails and lighting may not be included in the project until a second round of funding takes place. Even so, they aren’t necessary for an operational skating campus, he said.

“I’ve got some guys who are going to donate some of these things, and they’re going to get us at cost pricing for these things,” Weeg said. “So, it’s sort of hard to nail down the pricing … Maybe $150,000 for lights. For shade sail, it can’t be more than $50,000. It can’t be much. And neither of those things are required for us to open.”

A skatepark for Berlin has been in the works since 2022.

At that time, Spohn Ranch, a Los Angeles-based skateboard park design-and-build company, was hired to create concept plans.

The park will cover about 14,000 to 16,000 square feet and will be located adjacent to the space planned for the town’s new public works building at Heron Park.

Skaters will have access to elements such as a bowl, quarter pipes, a pump track, amphitheater steps, a hipped bank, a grind ledge, an A-frame bank, and a slappy curb. A landscape area is also planned.

In spring 2025, Public Works Director Jimmy Charles and We Heart Berlin representatives walked through the future park’s site and noted the structure’s dimensions.

Spohn Ranch will soon add Berlin’s skate park to its official schedule.

Weeg hopes Berlin skaters can hit the bowl sometime next year without straying too far from home.

“2027 is when we’re going to have a skateboard park,” he said.