Ledgewood Skate Park Reopens After Complete Overhaul

EDGEWOOD, MD — The Ledgewood Skate Park officially opened to the community Thursday.

Funded through state and county grants, the community-drive project came to fruition with a team effort by nonprofits, local officials, businesses and neighbors. Other entities, such as The Edgewood Creamery and Super Stone Skateboarding, have adopted the rebuilt skate park to help keep it clean and maintained moving forward.

The skate park, located near Edgewood Elementary School and the Coppermine Sports Complex, originally was a DIY street-style skate park built in 2009 on an old rundown tennis court using cinderblock bases and plywood ramps. It has been a favorite of local skateboarders for 15 years.

“We really couldn’t skate anywhere without the police showing up or a business telling us to leave,” Michael Wheatley, a skateboarder who helped build Ledgewood, told The Aegis. “We really just wanted a place of our own.”

BangTam Miller, founder of the community revitalization nonprofit, the 755 Alliance, believed more could be done with the popular skate park frequented by youth and adults alike. In 2019, Miller stumbled upon the park when carrying out a community cleanup project, and she decided to see what could be done. She learned that Harford County Public Schools actually owned the land the skate park sat on.

"As we took our walks around Cedar Drive, my husband pointed out, 'Hey, did you know that old tennis court, they're trying to build a skate park?' I said, 'What, you mean all that stuff is a skatepark?'" she told WJZ. "It had rebar sticking out and poles and things to make these extreme obstacles. And when I realized that's what they were trying to do, I wanted to make it an attractive and safe space."

Miller searched out state and county grant funding to convert the skate park into something everyone would be proud of, securing approximately $150,000 in state and county grants. She teamed up with local skateboarder Beau Barlow of Super Stone Skateboarding to design the park.

"It's a dream come true for the community," Miller told WJZ. "It's really a work of love for the community."

In May, the roughshod skate park was bulldozed, leaving behind just a few original hand-built Ledgewood obstacles. Day by day, the new skate park rose from the ground up until its unveiling last week. While the school system still owns the land Ledgewood sits on, school officials stated they plan to sign the land over to the county.

"You show up with a skateboard, you're one of us. Little kid, old head, it don't matter," skater Alex Kissinger told WJZ.