Lincoln's Concrete Wave

Skateboarders from Helena, Lewistown and Stevensville joined Lincoln skaters Saturday July 11, to celebrate the formal grand opening of the new Lincoln Skatepark.

"It's been a long process, but as you can see it was well worth it, so thank you everybody," Jeff Ament said after cutting the ribbon to officially open the Lincoln Skatepark Saturday afternoon. "Thanks for giving us a reason to come back to Lincoln."

Behind him, local kids and members of the Lincoln Skatepark Committee cheered and hoisted their skateboards above their heads.

Ament, the bass player for Pearl Jam and a native of Big Sandy, took an interest in the project after Lincoln English teacher Philip Reed contacted him in 2018 through Pearl Jam's Virology Foundation. Ament initially agreed to provide $50,000 in funding for the project, with an eye toward seeing it completed in 2019. Planning requirements pushed that back and there was still considerable funding needed, so in April he donated $100,000 to see the skate park project get underway. That was augmented by a $50,000 donation from the Montana Skatepark Association

Through his Montana Pool Service Foundation Ament has helped developed more than 20 skate parks in Montana. He spent much of the day Saturday watching skaters show off their moves, talking to kids and distributing free skate boards.

"We had a great turnout, great weather; you can't ask for more, I don't think," said Karyn Good, the community coordinator for the Wilderness Society who helped the skate park club get the project off the ground.

Good reeled off a long list of people and organizations involved in making the project a success, but made it a point to recognize the support from Lewis and Clark County.

"This would not have been possible if the county hadn't given us the green light," she said.

Billy Coulon, owner of Evergreen Skatepark, the company that built the new facility, said they usually see a good turnout for the grand opening of their skate parks. He said Evergreen has built between 12 and 14 skate parks in Montana.

Coulson said the design of the park can hold a crowd really well for its size, and is inviting for different skill levels.

"Its good, a really good (park), where it's easy to get into it and not be, like, instantly humbled," he said.

Skateboarder Evan Eastep of Helena, who heard about the park's grand opening and came up to check it out, agreed.

"It's pretty sweet. It has a good flow," he said. "It's like a good beginner to intermediate park, which is good for the town."

"This is great," said her mother Mindy Serich, "Lincoln definitely needs something like this."

Serich was glad to see Save the Brain was there to help get kids like hers outfitted with helmets that were sized correctly. The group donated dozens of helmets for the skate park's grand opening, which were given away free of charge. She said her family has been visiting the skate park with bikes and scooters in the evenings when it's quieter.

Jason Stephens of Lewistown, the vice president of Make It Happen Montana, called the Lincoln Skatepark an "enormous addition to your community."

"I think as time goes on, you guys are really going to appreciate the value of it. I think right now it's obviously pretty monumental for somebody to bestow a gift like this on a small town," he said.

Good credited Stephens' help as being instrumental in getting the project off the ground. Make It Happen serves as the fiscal sponsor for the Lincoln Skatepark Committee and she said Stephens helped mentor her through the process.

"We developed a skate park project in my hometown of Lewistown three years ago this August and learned a lot along the way," Stephens said. "In developing our own 501c3 status, one of the things we wanted to provide was an umbrella for other projects."

He said the Lincoln Skatepark is the first skate park, other than Lewistown's, that they've helped, but he's trying to develop projects in central Montana

"We're really kind of focused on the rural communities," he said. "They seem to be in most need of support, and they have a population that we feel benefits greatly from these creative projects."

A skater himself, Stephens said some of the negative perceptions of skateboarders need to be re-examined. He said the young skateboarders are actually pretty civic minded.

"What I see is a bunch of active kids outside, exercising, not playing videogames, not staring into a phone, and they're challenging themselves. they're learning about their balance, they're learning about their ability and in that process, they're developing confidence," he said. "What they learn here, they're going to carry through life. Skateboarding is about balance, and so is life. You can apply that to anything that comes your way."

He said kids are the future of communities all throughout Montana. "If we're not inviting in them, were not investing in the longevity of our communities," he said.

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