Harbor Springs skatepark construction complete, open for use

Karly Graham, The Petoskey News-Review
·2 min read

HARBOR SPRINGS — After a long wait, the Harbor Springs Sk8 Park is officially open for use.

Harbor Springs Parks and Recreation Director Rachel Roon said the park opened on Nov. 11, and people from near and far have been taking advantage of the nice stretch of recent warm weather to enjoy the park.

“It's so crazy, everyone thought like, ‘It’ll be done in November and that’ll be kind of a bummer,’ and now it’s 60 degrees and beautiful,” Roon said. "It is so exciting — and it even surprises me how exciting it is.”

Evergreen Skateparks finished construction on the new Harbor Springs skatepark on Nov. 11, 2023.
Evergreen Skateparks finished construction on the new Harbor Springs skatepark on Nov. 11, 2023.
The newly-constructed Harbor Springs Sk8 Park opened up for use Nov. 11, 2023.
The newly-constructed Harbor Springs Sk8 Park opened up for use Nov. 11, 2023.

Roon said people have been visiting the park often since it opened, with great reviews coming in already.

“People have been coming from all over, it's not just our area who's enjoying the skatepark,” Roon said.

Evergreen Skateparks finished construction on the new Harbor Springs skatepark Nov. 11.
Evergreen Skateparks finished construction on the new Harbor Springs skatepark Nov. 11.

She said someone drove in from Canada to use the park on Thursday.

"I think as long as there’s not snow on the ground, someone’s going to be at that skatepark,” Roon said.

The Sk8 Park was constructed by Evergreen Skateparks. The project was inspired in memory of Ted Swarthout. The fundraising for the project began in 2021, following Swarthout’s death. Construction began in late September.

Scooters hang on a wall at the Harbor Springs skatepark on Nov. 17, 2023.
Scooters hang on a wall at the Harbor Springs skatepark on Nov. 17, 2023.
Skaters using the newly-constructed skatepark in Harbor Springs on Nov. 16, 2023.
Skaters using the newly-constructed skatepark in Harbor Springs on Nov. 16, 2023.

Subscribe: Check out all our local coverage

“Evergreen was professional, efficient, so easy and amazing to work for — they were so excited with the project and made everyone else excited about it as well,” Roon said.

While construction of the park is complete, more landscaping is expected to come this spring.

Roon said having the fences down and a new entrance to the city is also a big benefit.

“Saturday when Evergreen left, there were so many people up at the Sk8 Park and all you could hear was cheering and, ‘I can’t believe it’s here!’” Roon said. “The excitement has just continued into the week. It doesn’t matter if it’s 10 o’clock in the morning or 7 p.m. at night — someone is out there skating.”

— Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Harbor Springs skatepark construction complete, open for use