In the 23 years that Ben Paquette has been skateboarding, he has spent more time making homemade ramps and skating behind area businesses than hitting the grind rails at the local skate park.
The problem for Paquette and many skaters in years past was the lack of a local facility where they could participate in the sport. Growing up, he and his friends were more like nomads, jumping from one spot to the next, only to be kicked out of those locations by police and security guards.
"Back when we were younger, people looked at skaters as punks or troublemakers," said Paquette, 30, of Salem, N.H.
"That's how it was back in the day. Just get in as many tricks as you can until security showed up."
But in recent years, skateboarding has taken on a life of its own, growing in popularity across the country, especially in Southern New Hampshire and the Merrimack Valley. And local towns have taken notice, as skate parks have been popping up all across the region, the most recent having been built this summer at Hedgehog Park in Salem, N.H.
Haverhill is also set to debut an indoor skating park at 24 Rogers Road called Frozen Waves within the next month, featuring 4,000 square feet of skating ecstasy for locals. The park, owned by Paquette, Brandon Bader and Chris "Rif" Welsh, has been in development since early March and is in the final stages of construction.
In addition to the park, the three own Frozen Waves Skateboard and BMX Ramp Company based out of Orleans, which specializes in manufacturing ramps, quarter pipes, half pipes, grind boxes, spines and launch ramps. The trio's original intent was to create a place to assemble and store their products, however, that idea soon grew into including a skate park within the facility.
Frozen Waves will provide an alternative indoor skating and biking facility to that of Rye Airfield, which for many local skaters can pose as an inconvenience given its location on New Hampshire's Seacoast.
"The indoor park in Haverhill is looking good," said Jason Lee, 20, of Danville. "I have seen a few pictures, and it looks like a really fun park. It will be nice to have a local indoor park that is an alternative to Rye and Dover."
Haverhill and Salem aren't the only local communities catching skate fever, as nearly every local city or town in the region now has a place skaters can call their own. Currently, Andover, Derry, Lawrence, Londonderry, Methuen, Newton, North Andover and Windham all have skate parks.
"There is definitely a lot more acceptance in this area for skateboarding," said Beau Lambert, general manager of Rye Airfield Skate Park. "Communities are trying to raise funds to build parks, and because of that they are putting tons of them in towns now."
Municipal skate parks are not the only places for skaters to get their fix, as Rye Airfield has been a hotbed for skaters and bikers alike for the past seven years. Ranked as one of the top 10 skate parks in the country by National Geographic last year, the facility measures out to a whopping 50,000 square feet, providing plenty of space to skate, grind and soar through the park's extensive BMX track and skate park.
The park was originally designed and built by Jack Murphy Productions, the designers of The Gravity Games, Vans Skateparks and the Dew Tour. Over the course of the past seven years, the park has been remodeled several times, with its most recent overhaul of 20,000 square feet coming last year.
"We have something for everyone," Lambert said. "We have a wide selection of ramps, and there is so much variety that any skater and biker can come in and enjoy it."
Rye Airfield has also felt the rise in participation, as Lambert said he has noticed a dramatic spike in attendance at the park among females and skaters under the age of 12. The most notable increase has been in Rye's "Ramp Camp," which teaches people how to skateboard, BMX and inline skate, totaling its highest number of participants in the park's history with 63.
"It's refreshing, and I hope this trend continues," Lambert said. "Personally, I think it's only going to grow."
The creation of new skating facilities has been nothing new in recent years, but the acceptance of skating has been a slow and steady process. Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk, who gained widespread fame for landing the first 900 and his licensed video game titles, played a huge part in the development of skateboarding in the public eye in the late '90s and early 2000s.
Additionally, the Summer X Games, an annual sporting event that focuses on extreme action sports, has seen significant media coverage since its debut in 1995, helping create a buzz around the sport like never before.
"I used to play the 'Tony Hawk' video games every day after school and basically just watched countless videos of skaters growing up," said Jesse Brucato, 20, of Salem, N.H. "It's visually appealing, but it has such a raw and solid feel to it. Once I started, I had no interest in stopping because it feels too good to want to quit."
Aside from its visual appeal, many take interest in the sport because it is so different from traditional sports that require multiple participants, special equipment or a large wallet.
"All you need is a skateboard, and it can be done anywhere, with or without anyone — the freedom is what makes it special," Lee said. "Skating is a great outlet for anyone. Ball sports aren't for everyone, and skateboarding gives you the creativity and individuality that some kids need."
As more and more communities create skate parks and skaters continue to show interest in the sport, skateboarding is quickly becoming more widely accepted by the masses. What was once considered to be an act of vandalism by rebellious troublemakers and a dangerous sport is now seen as a constructive activity.
That's why many skating advocates believe the sport is here to stay. It's not just something they do, it's a way of life.
"I think skating is something that will never die," Paquette said. "People have a hard time labeling it a sport, and that is because it's more of a lifestyle."
Local skate parks
Griffin Skate Park
101 Range Road, Windham
603- 965-1208
Rye Airfield
170 Lafayette Road, Rye
603-964-2800
Alexander Carr Skateboard & BMX Park
28 Pierce Ave., Derry
603-537-9205
Alpin SkatePark
Water Street, North Andover
978-685-0950
Francis Morse Park
Burnham Road off of Route 110, Methuen
978-794-3236
Andover Skate Park
80 Shawsheen Road, Andover
978-623-8241
Cashmen Skatepark
Behind the Haverhill Stadium on Water Street, Haverhill
978-374-2389
Misserville Park
Intersection of Allen and Summer streets, Lawrence
978-620-3350
Hedgehog Park
53 Lowell Road, Salem, N.H.
603-890-2140
Greenie Park
70 Heath St., Newton
603-382-9140
LAFA Complex
6 Sargent Road, Londonderry
603-437-2675
