The Lynch Family Skate Park is now open! After years of waiting, Boston-area skaters and riders now have a world-class public skate park to practice and compete in. The 40,000 square-foot park sits underneath two large highway ramps, tucked between North Point park and Boston Sand and Gravel. It is the result of strong cooperation between the Charles River Conservancy, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the City of Cambridge, the City of Boston, and hundreds of generous private donors. The private donors include Peter and Carolyn Lynch, who contributed an incredible $800,000 to the project, and Vans shoes, who have donated $1.5 million to construction and will contribute $25,000 per year over seven years to help maintain the skate park.

The Lynch Family Skatepark represents an important piece of the work that has been done by the state, the Charles River Conservancy, and others to restore underused and inaccessible portions of the Charles River Basin and return them to the public. Construction of the skate park included extensive clean-up of land that had been contaminated by a century of industrial uses, and has activated what was previously a vacant lot. It is a great example of the kinds of public-private partnerships that are restoring parkland all up and down the banks of the Charles River and creating recreational opportunities for people of all ages.