As anyone who treads Johnson State College’s campus has probably realized, the spirit of skateboarding is alive here. It’s hard to walk to class on a sunny day without spotting at least one other student who has decided that walking to class just isn’t for them. Many have probably also noticed there aren’t many skate-able features on campus, and fewer still that you’re allowed to skate. And, as any skater on campus knows, when the pathways get a little stale, the Johnson skate park is always waiting right in town.

However, the skate park in Johnson, like many DIY (do it yourself) projects, has been nothing if not humble. Chipping wood, rusted rails, and shoddy pavement have been commonplace here for quite a few years.

Around 2007, the park found an ambassador for progress in the form of now-alumni Richie Bowan, who graduated with a studio arts degree in 2008, but has yet to graduate from the park. He has been building and doing maintenance in the park since then, but this past year, Bowan took on the biggest project the park has seen so far: a new cement half bowl.

“I just got sick of building wooden stuff and having it be shit, and no matter how good you build something, wood it’s still going to require constant maintenance,” Bowan said. “And especially in a setting like that, if you’re building a ramp or something at your house…it’s just concrete’s the best, it lasts the longest, it requires the least maintenance, it’s the fastest, it looks the coolest, you can do whatever you want, you know, as far as shapes and stuff. So it just makes the most sense and I really wanted to do something that was like: take the budget we had and put something there that would just be a good start to adding more sections and better concrete and I don’t ever want to build anything wood again unless it’s a mini ramp or something.”

Bowan was helped with the construction by brothers Jeff and Pierre Hall, who collectively have experience ranging from basic construction to cement restoration at Alcatraz, to, you bet, building cement bowls, so it’s safe to say the park was in good hands. The trio (give or take a few extra volunteers) worked a total of 896 paid hours, or seven and a half full time weeks for three people.
The funding was provided through various means, such as a small amount of fundraising, money from the town, and mostly, and most importantly for the project, a Federal Recreation Grant won by another volunteer, Casey Romero.

According to Bowan the total cost of the project came to $27,462, including labor and materials. They bought 10 sheets of plywood to frame the bowl, and the bowl itself required 35 yards of cement.
Bowan feels like there is more work to be done, but it probably isn’t for him to do. “Not right now, but the idea is to keep building a section at a time, or a ramp at a time. Just work our way all the way down, and I mean the sky’s the limit there, really like that piece of property goes all the way to the river and the soil drains really well, It’s really good for building, and, like I said I’ll probably be moving out of Vermont in the next year or two years, so it’s kind of like I wanted to do this before I left and try to get something really solid there, and just hope someone else takes the reins.”