Lawmakers Pursue $150,000 for Hampden Skate Park

North Baltimore lawmakers are trying to bring $150,000 back to the city to help build a skate park in Hampden.

Lawmakers from District 40, which includes Charles Village, Hampden and parts of Roland Park, submitted a bond bill on behalf of skate park backers for a second time, after it failed to pass the Appropriations Committee last year.

"This year they’re on our priority list. So they should get some money," said Del. Shawn Z. Tarrant, the lead sponsor of the bill. 

Tarrant said he feels the skate park is worthy of state support because it will give kids a safe place off city streets to ride their skateboards.

Often bond bills, such as the one passed last year to help fund the restoration of the Roland Water Tower, have to be submitted multiple times before they are passed.

A committee hearing for the bill has not yet been scheduled.

In June, Skatepark of Baltimore, a nonprofit that has been working to build a skate park in Roosevelt Park for years, announced it to leverage a $75,000 grant from the Baltimore Department of Recreation and Parks. The department would also be the administrator for state funds from the bond bill. 

Last March, the group was awarded a from the Tony Hawk Foundation to help build the proposed 16,000 square foot concrete skate park.

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