Riverhead officially reopens skate park

Town officials and the Riverhead Recreation Department announced this week that the gates of the skate park on Columbus Avenue, which was closed for repairs for the entire 2015 year, were officially reopening thanks to $60,000 in repairs to ramps containing 73 damaged boards.

Ray Coyne, superintendent of recreation for the town’s Recreation Department, said the funds to repair the boards came from the town’s capital fund. The boards, which Coyne said had accumulated wear and tear over time, had started to deteriorate after the warranty on them expired in 2011.

In order to open the park, the town is closing off the ramps that hold the remaining 64 boards, which officials estimate will cost $70,000 to fully repair.

Coyne said that at this time there were no plans to repair the boards and there are no available funds to repair the boards. “We have 42 parks in Riverhead Town and there are a lot of parks in need of repair,” he said.

Plans are in place to place pickleball courts in the section where the damaged boards reside. Coyne said officials were estimating that the final repairs and changes would be made in a month, with the damaged boards to be taken down.