Berlin Skate Park (rendering by Spohn Ranch) is proposed for Heron Park.
By Tara Fischer
Staff Writer
(Dec. 19, 2024) A local nonprofit organization is looking for potential funding sources to help pay for the construction of a skate park in Berlin.
We Heart Berlin, which is dedicated to promoting the creation of sustainable and healthy activities for town residents, continues to prioritize the building of a skate park for the enjoyment of kids and adults.
In 2022, the Los Angeles-based skate park design company Spohn Ranch was hired to create a concept plan and scope out potential locations for the recreational space.
In 2023, the Berlin Town Council voted to designate Heron Park as the construction spot.
According to We Heart Berlin founder Tony Weeg, the initiative is expected to see a 14,000- to 16,000-square-foot skate park adjacent to the space planned for Berlin’s new public works facility.
A bowl, quarter pipes, and a pump track, which helps skaters learn to transition without losing momentum, are just a few elements likely to be created for the area.
Weeg said that We Heart Berlin was awaiting final design plans from Spohn Ranch last summer and that the group was to avoid fundraising until an official outline had been created. The document was officially submitted to the nonprofit in August.
“We love the plans,” Weeg said. “We couldn’t be happier. It’s pretty rad…It gives us so much transition, a peanut-shaped bowl. It’s beautiful, and it fits in the space pretty well.”
The design also includes amphitheater steps, a hipped bank, a grind ledge, an A-frame bank, a slappy curb, and a landscape area.
Now, the organization is searching for grants and other monetary avenues over the next few years to secure the finances necessary to get the project off the ground.
The group expects the initiative to cost approximately $975,000 for the actual concrete park, or a total of $1.2 million for everything, including additional lighting and other accessories.
One such avenue could be grants recommended to Weeg by Jake Day, secretary of the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development.
The Strategic Demolition Grant, for instance, could be used by the town and the nonprofit for pre-development costs, including site preparation.
The skate park could see several hundred thousand dollars from the program if awarded. According to Weeg, Day added that the Town of Berlin received $500,000 from the Strategic Demolition Grant through the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) FY2022 State Revitalization Program for the deconstruction of the former Tyson Plant on the Heron Park property, where the skate park will be situated.
“We have awarded $500,000 for Heron Park already, so it makes sense for us to continue to invest,” Day said in an August email to Weeg.
Day recommended the Community Legacy Grant for construction costs, of which he said the project would “definitely be eligible for the actual build-out of the park.”
The project may also qualify for the Seed Community Development Anchor Institution Fund in the several hundred-thousand-dollar range.
However, the DHCD secretary maintains that it requires a college or hospital to apply, which he suggested could be Atlantic General Hospital.
“It won’t cost [AGH] anything, especially if We Heart Berlin volunteers would do some of the work to assist with the application process,” Day said.
The town’s Annual Program Open Space Development Plan also included the skate park project, which Town Administrator Mary Bohlen said “prioritizes upcoming and future planned projects for the town’s parks, with the intent to apply [for grant funding].”
According to Bohlen, the information necessary for an application on behalf of the skate park was not prepared in time for this year. However, she added that “provided the appropriate information is ready for a grant application, the town would intend to make an application to the Community Parks and Playgrounds program (under Program Open Space) for fiscal year 2026.”
The funds would come through the Maryland Department of Natural Resources from their Open Space and Community Parks and Playgrounds Program.
The first two items on the town’s Annual Program Open Space Development Plan were the construction of permanent restrooms at Stephen Decatur Park and a replacement playground unit at Henry Park.
These projects were funded through “various sources” and are about to proceed. Bohlen said that will “move the skate park up the list.”
The town may submit a skate park application to the Community Parks and Playgrounds Program for FY26, due in late summer this year. Awardees will be notified in spring 2026. However, Bohlen maintained that Berlin intends to apply, but nothing is “set in stone.” The appropriate information will need to be compiled before the project can be put up for funding.
Weeg expects the skate park to break ground in 2026 or 2027, unless “local all-stars” step up and enable construction to begin sooner.
Meanwhile, Weeg said fundraising will likely occur in more traditional, slower avenues.
“[Funding] is either going to be coming through [grants and donations], or we’re going to be doing it with bake sales, and that is going to take a long, long time, and the kids looking at us saying ‘we want a skate park’ are going to be adults, raising money with us later down the road,” Weeg said.
“The kids have been waiting long enough, and I’m hoping we can get some people interested in this and involved soon,” he said.
We Heart Berlin will also offer naming rights for the elements and park pieces for any sizable contribution. Additionally, Weeg hopes to sell bricks at $100 each for a pathway that could be engraved to help raise money and get people involved in the project’s creation.
Weeg said the push for a skate park in Berlin has been ongoing for over a decade. He hopes the town’s kids will have the recreational space sooner rather than later.
“The biggest thing is money,” he said. “We need people who can step up to the plate and make this happen. We have done everything we can to get there; we just need the help.”