Skateboarders and city councilors along with Mayor Bruce Chuluda and others celebrated the groundbreaking of Westbrook’s new ramp park at Bicentennial Park on Monday.

On Monday night, after the groundbreaking, the City Council unanimously approved a bid for the park’s components from Massachusetts-based Skate Parks Inc. While the council needs to hold a second vote on the bid before it can be awarded, Chuluda said he’s hoping construction can be finished, “weather permitting,” by July.

Monday’s groundbreaking represents the culmination of years of intention by the city to build a park for its youth.

“We realized that there was a need for kids because of the interest in skateboarding, and we don’t have a good place,” said Bruce Dyer, Westbrook High School substance abuse counselor. “It’s been a long and winding road.”

Westbrook resident Kathy Poirier has been vocal about building a skate park for about 10 years, she said, stressing the need to accommodate youth who aren’t active in more traditional sports. “A lot of young people are not active in sports in school. This is their own thing-they feel confident about it,” she said. “They deserve a chance to do what they do.”

The park will be a welcome addition to the city for its skateboarding youth who will now not have to drive or ride the bus or scrape together rides to Portland, Windham, Bath or Biddeford to ride in those communities’ skate parks.

The realization of the effort to build a skateboard park in the city is the result of donations of time and money by local businesses.

“I think it’s long overdue, and I really want to thank all the players involved in the game here,” said Councilor John O’Hara. “There’s been a lot of tremendous behind-the-scenes work that has been done to accommodate this.”

White Brothers Inc. will be donating the excavation for the project. Pike Industries is planning to donate the pavement for the park, and E.A. Burns’ Fencing Inc. will be supplying the fences. The city will be using donated money to pay Skate Parks Inc. the just over $33,000 it will cost to purchase the park components and construct the park. Flannery Properties donated $10,000 to the project to add to a donation of $75,000 Hannaford made in 2003 for improvements to Bicentennial Park, some of that money will help pay for the park.

City Administrator Jerre Bryant reiterated at Monday’s council meeting that the skate park would not cost the taxpayers of Westbrook a cent. “There are no property tax dollars going into this project at all,” he said.

The design of the park will be influenced by a group of Westbrook students who helped decide where the park should be and what type of components it should have. Skate Parks Inc. will ultimately decide on the layout of the park based on the company’s expertise, but the components and feel of the park will come from the kids.

“I’m very excited and looking forward to when the mayor takes a ceremonial ride,” joked Council President Brendan Rielly.

Bryant returned the joke with one of his own, saying that the city has taken precautions in case Chuluda did elect to get on a skateboard.

“You will note Mr. President, that the easement you passed earlier this evening was for emergency vehicle access to the site,” Bryant said; in reference the council’s passage of a permanent easement through Hannaford property for construction and emergency access. “So we would be prepared if Mayor Chuluda does do that at the ribbon cutting.”

A group of Westbrook skateboarders took center stage at the groundbreaking for Westbrook’s new skate park at Bicentennial Park on Monday. The city hopes to have construction on the park completed by this summer.