Skaters Excited For New Park In Hampden

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- There's a new destination in Hampden, and hundreds of people are flocking to it to have fun.

As WJZ's Ron Matz reports, a woman who loves her neighborhood led the effort to make it happen.

The "it" is a skating facility in Roosevelt Park, and it's been 10 years in the making. City and state funds, plus private donations, helped it along.

It was all a labor of love for Stephanie Murdock.

"We came together as a group of volunteers back in 2004 and formed a non profit in 2006 called Skatepark of Baltimore whose mission was to build a public concrete destination skate park here in the city of Baltimore," Murdock tells WJZ.

"We have about 30,000 skateboarders in and around the city of baltimore and up until now their options have been pretty limited to where they can go," she said. "This is a safe space for them to come and practice and meet up with their friends so we're really excited about it."

So is Ben Rochenhoefer, a skateboarder.

"It gives the youth a good place to go, it's a safe environment," he said.

And Ryan Gladden, another Baltimore boarder, said "the concrete is really smooth," and that the park is on par with others in Maryland, like a fairly new facility in Laurel.

The grand opening for the skate park is being planned for May.

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