Baker Bowl Turns Ten
Local skate park still attacts people from across the area

City life can be unforgiving and stressful. Often the landscapes of asphalt and concrete only reflect the constraints of urban life.
There are few structures that can defy these notions, creating nature and freedom from stone.
In the summer of 1998, an unlikely group of skateboarders, constuction companies, policitians and city workers came together to carve out Baker Bowl Skate Park.
For Carlisle resident, Tom Duffy, Baker Bowl represents an escape from the stresses of life as a factory supervisor and a father.
“People talk about riding their Harleys the same way I talk about riding a skateboard,” he said. “You get the freedom from it, it’s just $20,000 cheaper.”
This site of discount therapy was also inexpensive for the city of Middletown.
According to the Parks and Recreation Dept., after the skaters and city began discussing a park to give skaters a safe place to skate that didn’t disturb the public, Baker’s Concrete of Monroe stepped forward.
Baker’s Concrete donated all of the materials and labor for the park and even convinced Suburban Rails, located in Athens, Ohio at the time, to donate their design services.
The park has three areas that allow for beginning, intermediate, and advanced riders.
Duffy often interacts with children and teens that fit in all these categories.
“I love telling the kids how great I am even though I just roll around,” he said. “They know I’m just full of baloney.”
Every time Duffy comes to the park he brings his leafblower to clean it up.
“You only get one skateboard park,” he said. “They’re not going to rebuild this anytime soon."
The city also comes out to the park several times a week to maintain it.
Maintenance worker Harold Roberts says they clean up litter and paint over the graffiti that is vulgar or racist. They leave everything else.
Roberts said the graffiti is part of the skateboard culture and some it even looks good.
“Middletown did a great thing here for their city,” Duffy said, and for that he tries to return the favor.
Recounting the story of teaching a young girl to skate and teach her parents what skating was he said, “I came back the next week and the girl had a brand new skateboard that had pink all over it.”
“She said thank you,” he said. “And it just absolutely brightened my day.” ©