Ledgewood, formerly a grungy DIY skatepark in Edgewood, officially reopened Thursday as a state-of-the-art landmark in the skateboarding community.
The plaza, street-style skatepark was built in 2009 on an abandoned tennis court behind Edgewood Elementary. Ledgewood anchored a skateboarding community for decades as local skaters built each of the park’s obstacles by hand.
Its revitalization was envisioned in 2019 by BangTam Miller, the founder of the community revitalization nonprofit, the 755 Alliance. Miller later learned that Harford County Public Schools owned the land.
Miller went on to leverage state and county grant funds to cover the project’s expenses and consulted with local skateboarder Beau Barlow of Super Stone Skateboarding to design the park and keep Ledgewood.
In May, the park was razed, with a few original hand-built Ledgewood obstacles left standing on the dirt lot.
Barlow, who formerly owned a skatepark in Rosedale and Forest Hill, said he designed the Ledgewood revitalization in a way that kept the character of what the park had always been.
“I don’t think it had too much of a vision to start with. It was just paradise for us skateboarders and it took everyone working together to get it to where it is today,” Barlow said. “I wanted to keep the heart and soul of Ledgewood, which is why I kept the design and the flow.”
The park’s ribbon-cutting ceremony drew members of the 755 Alliance, as well as county and state officials and other local partners.
“Through state funding, county funding and private partnerships, we were able to transform [the park] into a beautiful and attractive skatepark for public use,” Miller said. “I wanted this project for the community.”
County Executive Bob Cassilly said the project serves a need of the Edgewood community that he saw not only when he became county executive three years ago, but also while he was a state senator for eight years prior.
He said his Southern County Task Force, launched to address the unique needs of Harford County’s historically underserved communities, was created to assist organizations like the 755 Alliance to bring all projects and visions to fruition in southern county communities.
“We didn’t have this idea, it wasn’t the 755 Alliance idea or the state government — it was a project that came from the local community,” Cassilly said. “This is the kind of commitment we are bringing into the community and standing behind it to ensure that the ideas that are coming from the community reach fruition.”
The school system still owns the land Ledgewood is on, but school officials are in the process of signing the land over to the county government.
Since the park’s construction was completed last month, dozens of skateboarders have used it each day. The Edgewood Creamery, an ice cream shop near Ledgewood, adopted the park and is tasked with emptying the park’s trash cans.
Barlow’s brand, Super Stone Skateboarding, also adopted the park and will maintain its structures.
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