The town of Hopkinton formally accepted control of Spirit Skateboard Park earlier this week. The park was dedicated by the Shumway and Carr families in memory of their sons, graduates of Hopkinton High School who were killed six years ago.

Jake Shumway, 20, and Rob Carr, 18, traveled to Stratton Mountain resort in March 2000 to watch the U.S. Open Snowboarding competition and built a snow cave in the parking lot to spend the night in. They were killed when a snowplow collapsed their cave.

Both boys were avid skateboarders, and after their deaths, the families began fundraising and soliciting ideas from local kids on how to design the skate park in Hopkinton.

"The kids designed all the ramps, and we built their dreams that they sketched out on napkins and squares of paper," said Rob's father, Bob Carr.

The families raised more than $300,000 in donations, materials and volunteer labor, Carr said, and built the 10,000-square-foot skate park with more than 30 elements on Park Avenue, near the Hopkinton Middle High School, at no cost to the town.

The park has been open for about three years, attracting little kids on tricycles and professional BMX riders. The final adjustments, including sound deadening and replacement of skate lights, were made over the past several weeks, and the selectmen officially accepted the park Monday evening.

At that meeting, Deb Nicholson of the skateboard park committee donated $5,000 to the town to be placed in a fund for future maintenance of the park, said Town Administrator Ed Wojnowski.

Wojnowski called the park "one of the premier skateboard parks in the state."

"Kids and adults come from all over the place to skateboard and ride their bikes and do stunts on the different ramps," Wojnowski said.

Carr said of his son and Shumway, "I just wish they were around to enjoy it. They kind of are in spirit."

By SHIRA SCHOENBERG
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