Flipping and grinding at the Plainfield skate park grand opening

PLAINFIELD - Children and teens in the city are jumping with joy — on their skateboards.

On Tuesday, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was conducted in Plainfield for the city's new skate park, located at Madison Park off of West Second Street. Local officials, contractors and even a professional skateboarder attended the event.

Mayor Adrian Mapp, while at the ribbon-cutting, said that the skate park is part of his administration's efforts to provide "wholesome recreation" outlets around the city.

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"This is just one of those examples, a demonstration, of the commitment that we have made to make sure that our young people have a place to go and enjoy the sport that they love so much," he said. "We committed to investing in a state-of-the-art skate park."

He said that the skate park, the city's first, will be named in dedication of Eric Watson, a longtime Plainfield resident and former director of of the city's public works and urban planning department who died in 2016.

"We know that there is going to be an influx of people, coming not only from our city, but from across the state to enjoy skateboarding at its best," Mapp said. "It is with great pride that I stand here this morning as mayor to declare this skate park officially open." 

Rebecca Williams, president of Plainfield City Council, said that the skate park "is another of example of the council and the administration working together with the department of public works and recreation" and the developer to get the project done.

Surrounding the park on Tuesday were dozens of skateboard enthusiasts of all ages. They came to see the park open and also to see Ron Deily, a professional skateboarder, break in the ramps. He also did a free product give-away, handing out skateboards, wheels and clothing to the local kids and teens.

Deily, who is from Union Beach in Monmouth County but now lives in Jersey City, has been a professional skateboarder for Zoo York skateboards for about seven years, and was first signed to the team 14 years ago. He is also sponsored by NJ Skateshop, which has a store in New Brunswick.

"I haven't seen a skate park like this in New Jersey yet," he said.

"It's very original," he said adding that the park's features are very up to times and look like something seen in California. "You can tell a skateboarder did the work."

Mark Wojton, the man who designed, is a longtime skateboarder.

Wojton, who is originally from Gladstone but now lives in Seattle, was contracted by the city last year, according to his mother, Nancy, who attended the event because her son was in Norway for another skate park project.

Tsivikos Enterprises, which is owned and operated by Haralambos Tsivicos, built the skate park. Its owner grew up skateboarding and biking.

The ground was first broken on June 1, and Tsivicos, who is a Rutgers University School of Engineering graduate, said the park was finished a month ahead of schedule.

The park, which can also be used for bikes, roller skate and scooters, consists of 200 cubic yards of concrete and metal rails and ledges. It features large ramps on both ends of the park, about six feet high, and higher at some points, with slopes, bumps and rails in between.

"All of these elements range from beginner to expert level," Tsivicos said, "so there's a place for everyone at the Madison Avenue Skate Park in Plainfield."

He said that he has been involved with the construction of skate parks for about 10 years, but that this is the first skate park that he has built through his company, which works through government contracts.

"We've been building government projects in the State of New Jersey for over 20 years," he said. "The method of construction of this skate park is very similar to the method of construction used in swimming pool construction."

He said the contract was around $250,000, which is on the lower end for the construction of skate parks, but that he offered a bid of that amount because it was within Plainfield's budget.

There are several other skate parks in Central Jersey, including Fanwood, Hillsborough, Edison, Woodbridge, South Brunswick and Linden.

The skate park in Somerville closed down in 2015. The skate park in East Brunswick also closed down several years ago.

Tsivicos, who grew up in Asbury Park and operates his business out of Neptune, said he also took on the project because he enjoys working on interesting endeavors.

"Being involved with extreme sports my entire life, growing up BMXing, I've always been bidding skate park jobs, I always had the dream to do them," he said. "I have a choice as government contractor to bid on anything I want. I choose to bid exciting projects."

Tsivicos said that in addition to the mayor, council and public works department, members of the community also helped get the project done.

Jeremy Picado, who has lived in Plainfield for ,20 years, works for Tsivikos Enterprises and helped construct the skate park.

"It's just amazing," said Picado, who has been skateboarding for more than 17 years. "I'm just honored and privileged to a part of this, and I grew up here so I couldn't ask for anything better. I'm just living the dream."

Picado also runs a mobile skate shop on the side called East Coast Connexion, to spread the love of skateboarding.

"We need something like this to keep the kids busy and keep them off the street," he said. "In the long run, it's going to help everyone in the community."

As the morning progressed, several other skateboarders from Plainfield came out to see Deily and Picado skate the freshly opened skate park, and then take their turns at the ramps.

Neeff Boyd, 28, of Plainfield, said that the skate park is a "very positive" addition to the city that will be good for the children living in the area.

Travis Haley, 23, also of Plainfield, said that in the past, skateboarders had to skate benches at different spots around the city that they would likely get kicked out of.

The skate park "means a lot for the community," he said, because it will inspire more people to get outside and get involved with a valuable sport.

Before the ribbon was cut, and before Deily did the first kickflip over the rail and Picado the first frontside 5-0 grind on the quarter pipe ramp, Tsivicos looked at the skate park he had just finished building and said, "I hope that the generations to come can come here and reap the benefits of this beautiful facility."

Staff Writer Nick Muscavage: 908-243-6615; ngmuscavage@gannettnj.com