UPDATE New skate park gets friends BY SAM PFEIFLE

We recently chronicled the beginning of two skaters’ quest for a new skate park to be built in Harbor View Park (see "A New Skate Park for Portland," May 20, by Sam Pfeifle). Now Eli Cayer and Bob Smyth have got a seemingly unlikely ally: Portland Trails.

"We’ve been working," says Portland Trails executive director Nan Cumming, "in conjunction with the city, parks and rec, and public works to try to create either a trail connection, our first option, or simply a better sidewalk connection basically from Rufus Deering Lumber, going under the [Casco Bay] Bridge, and then onward along Commercial Street toward the highway, because at the other end is the 295, the big construction project, and we’ve worked with them for seven years to make sure there’s a trail there — but it just sort of dumps you at Bennie’s Clam shack."

So, pending some grants coming through, it looks like that will happen, which means Portland Trails is going to be putting something right through Harbor View Park.

"When Eli [Cayer] talked to me about also creating the skate park there," says Cumming, "and the graffiti wall, I just thought that was a great idea for the land there because Harbor View Park seems to be underused. I see people there, but not as many as I would think considering its beauty."

Some people may not associate a leisurely walk with tearing up the ramp, but the alliance does, of course, make sense. Both trail enthusiasts and skaters/riders love the outdoors and are interested in getting from point A to point B along a smooth surface.

So, while Cumming doesn’t necessarily see Portland Trails putting together a joint proposal for development with the skate park, "I think that collaborations like this feed off each other," she says. "They could get a lot of mileage with their funders by saying, ‘Gee, we’re working with the Trails.’ All foundations, be they government or private, like to see collaborations. Maybe they say, ‘Okay, we’ll match that grant.’ "

Obviously, everything is still in the pre-planning stages, but Portland Trails seems to have dibs on connecting 295 and the Old Port, and that runs through Harbor View Park, and "I think it would be great to have [a skate park] there," says Cumming. "At this point, I don’t see any downsides to it. That’s part of our mission, to bring people to areas like this. That’s just such a cool space — when I think of the skate park there it just works for me."

Cayer and Smyth hope it works for the city, too.