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PRINCETON: Hilltop Skate Park nears Nov. 22 opening

By Greg Forester, Staff Writer
   Princeton Hilltop Skate Park, which will allow the area’s growing population of skaters to hone their skills on their own piece of concrete heaven, is nearing completion and will be open for use following a grand opening celebration on Saturday, Nov. 22.
   The grand opening of the skate park, which consists of an assortment of concrete ramps, stairs and rails in Hilltop Park off of Bunn Drive, is scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon that day.
   A skating demonstration put together by local skaters and a raffle event have been scheduled by the Princeton Recreation Department as part of the day’s events.
   Princeton’s local skateboard shop, Decked, will also be on hand, selling skating-related wares, according to officials. They said the shop’s management has also agreed to lend a hand in policing the new skate park for litter.
   Other skating shops should be on hand at the event, according to Jack Roberts, the executive director of the Princeton Recreation Department.
   He said the Recreation Department had received phone calls from skate shops as far away as Sayreville looking to be represented at the opening ceremonies.
   The fast-approaching grand opening of the park would have never happened without contributions from an assortment of local entities that donated significantly toward the project’s overall $500,000 price tag, according to Mr. Roberts.
   ”This was a classic example of getting many different elements of the community involved,” he said.
   Three years ago, the Recreation Department made $125,000 in capital requests to each Princeton municipality, and used the time that has elapsed since then to raise an additional $125,000 from the community.
   ”It was a referendum in the community” on the skate park, said Mr. Roberts of the $125,000 raised from private sources, which included a single $100,000 “community donation” from an anonymous donor.
   In addition, to that donation, The Princeton Parks Association contributed $5,000 to the project.
   Princeton University also got involved in the contributions, by donating $25,000 toward the skate park, and the Princeton Gentlemen’s Club made a $1,000 contribution.
   The $250,000 appropriation from the municipalities and community gift-giving was originally thought to be enough to cover the total cost of the project, according to Mr. Roberts.
   But recreation officials soon discovered the “project’s cost would be more substantial if it was built to last,” he said.
   Building the new park “to last” was something recreation officials wanted, so they settled on a concrete design that would last for a far longer time than if they had settled on a more traditional skate park, built from pre-fabricated materials.
   In looking to the future, recreation officials decided to instruct designers to leave the park with room for possible additions in the years to come.
   Builders installed a drainage system that would become necessary if the department found the funding to move ahead with installing a concrete bowl.
   The bowl was decided to be too ambitious at this stage of the park’s development, however.
   ”It was just too much additional money to do,” Mr. Roberts said.