Renowned Sculptor Helps Make Boston Skatepark A Reality

BOSTON (CBS) - Doug Moore is "carving the bowl" in a bowl he built himself at an Allston skateboard shop. Skateboarding has been his passion for years. "Some people say is it a sport or is it an art?"

It is in Boston a constant search for a legal place to skate and now a new park located beneath the Zakim Bridge is expected to become a mecca for skateboarders with an acre of ledges, banks, mini-ramps, and bowls that will fill a void when it opens November 14. "We're going to become a go to spot for people all over the world coming to Boston to skate," said Moore.

It's an idea that started with renowned sculptor Nancy Schon, who created the ducklings in Boston's Public Garden and the tortoise and the hare in Copley Square. She says the tortoise and the hare were being used by boarders for practice. "All of a sudden I got a call that they're doing their ollies or big jumps on my sculpture, my wonderful sculpture," said Schon.

It made it clear to her that skateboarders needed a place to call their own. "They are such good athletes, these kids," said Schon. "This is my dream come true."

Schon found a partner in the Charles River Conservancy to make the park a not so easy reality given the price tag, location, and the site was contaminated. "You've got several bureaucratic agencies doing their best to move things along but there's always that hiccup," said SJ Port with the Conservancy. "It costs a lot of money to clean up a brown field."

In most municipalities it's illegal for skateboarders to skate on streets and sidewalks and they're used to being asked to leave. It'll be a different story at the new Lynch Family Skatepark, named for the Lynch Foundation which made a substantial donation to the five million dollar project that's being paid for with both public and private funds.

"It's going to be a challenge to ride there and test your skills, and bring your skills up to be able to ride this kind of stuff," said Doug Moore.