TOMS RIVER – Castle Park has been one of the coolest parks around for a while, and it just got cooler.
A skate park opened up in one corner of the park, right next to the castle play area. There are also picnic tables off to the side.
The facility is not just for skateboards, as scooters and roller skates were also being used on the day they cut the ribbon on it. And it’s not just for teens, as kids and adults were also taking to it.
Anthony Devecka recalled going to a Township Council meeting asking the governing body for a skate park. Some of them were on board, but some needed a lot of convincing.
He got a few hundred signatures in favor of his proposal and reached out to the Skatepark Project, formerly the Tony Hawk Foundation, which helps communities fund skate parks.
And now, here it was, fully built and being used by dozens of people.
Hell On Wheels provided music and a crew for the opening day. At one point, they were blasting hard rock music, and if you stood in the right place you could hear the mix of AC/DC and an ice cream truck jingle. That combination seemed to be a good metaphor for the skate park. Skaters say that there is a negative stigma against them because people think they are more AC/DC than ice cream jingle, but the reality is that there were a variety of people who are attracted to the sport.
Some were little kids. Some were teens. Some were parents.
John Jackson’s kid was a little young for it now, but he’ll probably be going there when he grows up. It’ll be something for them to do together. Jackson was 18 when he started skating, and he’s 36 now. “It turned my life around,” he said.
Toms River never had a skate park, he said. If you wanted to get into the hobby, there wasn’t any place to go.
“If you’re a kid, this gives you a place to meet with people who have the same interest,” he said.
“With 11 different elementary schools in Toms River, you might never meet each other,” his brother Nate Jackson pointed out.
During the ribbon cutting, there were opportunities to sign up to use the park. It’s free, but you have to sign a waiver. The paperwork will be available at the youth center.
