SARATOGA SPRINGS — Fundraising efforts are underway to help rebuild build a new, concrete skatepark via a partnership forged by Death Wish Coffee Co. and On Deck Saratoga.
“The skatepark and all parks in Saratoga Springs provide gathering spaces for residents to come together to make memories, which makes living and working here a great joy,” said Mike Brown, founder of Death Wish Coffee. “Death Wish Coffee is honored to have the opportunity to help build the spaces that serve to create these magic moments.”
Death Wish Coffee will match donations up to $25,000 to boost ON DECK’s fundraising efforts.
Built in 1989, the Saratoga Skatepark is a storied piece of skateboarding history, having hosted contests and demos since its construction and existing for years as one of the only public skateparks in New York State, as well as the state’s oldest. Many skate industry icons, famous musicians, artists, pro skaters and even a few Death Wish Coffee employees spent their formative years at the park. It is widely recognized as a landmark in East Coast skateboarding legacy. It’s also the birthplace of the Silly Pink Bunnies, an international skateboard crew with roughly 500 members.
Since its last facelift 20 years ago, the Saratoga skatepark has needed an upgrade to become a modern, poured-in-place, concrete-constructed facility like the majority of skateparks around the world. For the past ten years, ON DECK Saratoga has been hosting a variety of skate events and art shows to raise awareness and fundraise for this project. In 2021, the City of Saratoga Springs agreed to allocate $265,000 towards the new skatepark, priced at $350,000. ON DECK agreed to fundraise the remaining $85,000, which is when Death Wish Coffee made the decision to do what it could to help the needed upgrade.
Donations can be made at the skatepark’s GoFundMe page from April 15-June 1, 2022: gofund.me/3becaae4.
