The Biddeford skate park at Rotary Park was closed last month due to safety concerns. Sydney Richelieu / The Courier

The Biddeford Parks and Recreation Department has recommended removing the city’s current skate park and rebuilding due to safety concerns.

Last month, the skate park at Rotary Park was closed after it was determined that extensive repairs need to be made to the park.

Built 20 years ago, the park is showing its age, with a deteriorating structure, cracks and rust, uneven surfaces, vegetation, crumbling cement, missing structural elements on the half pipe, and shifting of the structure.

Parks and Recreation Director Lisa Thompson told the City Council last week that the park needs to be completely renovated.

“There hasn’t been a lot of maintenance put into it by the city,” Thompson said. “It’s beginning to show.”

This week, Parks and Recreation plans to hold a public meeting to discuss whether or not there is a need for a new skate park in Biddeford.

For many residents, the need is great.

“It means a lot to me, and it means a lot to locals in the area to keep this park intact,” resident Bryce Grenier said. “We have a nice community in the skate scene around here.”

Local skaters are urging the city to rebuild their neighborhood skate park. Sydney Richelieu / The Courier

Local skaters are calling for elements of the current skate park to be revitalized in a new skate park, many for sentimental reasons.

“I’ve been skating at this park since it opened,” Grenier said.

Like Biddeford, neighboring towns have also been dealing with much-needed skate park renovations.

In 2022, Kennebunk rebuilt a beloved downtown park, having closed the park for the same reason as Biddeford: safety concerns.

“Our number one priority is having facilities that are safe,” Thompson said.

Starting at the end of September, the Biddeford Parks and Recreation Department also plans to give several city playgrounds a facelift.

The department will host a community playground build from Sept. 30 through Oct. 4, and projects include playground upgrades at Clifford Park, Rotary Park, and May Street Park.

At Clifford Park, a nature-based playground scape will be added next to the tennis courts, and a new basket swing will be added at May Street Park.

The biggest addition will be at the beach playground, Thompson said, where playground structures from Rotary Park will be moved, and a new element will be added.

“It will make the beach playground way bigger than it is now, and hopefully a nice destination for people to come in the summertime,” Thompson said.