The Newport City Council Wednesday night voted 4-2 to support the construction of a skatepark and a basketball court at the Abbruzzi Sports Complex in Newport’s North End.
Councilor Lynn Ceglie, who sponsored the resolution in support of the skatepark, was join by Councilors Charlie Holder, Jamie Bova, and Angela McCalla in voting to support the project that started in earnest in 1975 by Sid Abbruzzi and was picked up by Tim Boucher, Doug Sabetti, Mike Richards, and hundreds of other volunteers to make this project a reality.
Mayor Jeanne Marie Napolitano and Councilor Elizabeth Fuerte voted to oppose the construction of the park which would support one of the fastest growing sports in the world. Skateboarding has a market worth of US$4.8 billion in revenue and an estimated 11 million skateboarders around the world. … Because of its growing popularity, skateboarding was one of the five sports added to the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
Councilor Kate Leonard was absent from the meeting.
Napolitano and Fuerte’s objections were basically based upon the question of ‘Can’t we find another location?’ However, after 46 years of trying and getting shut down everywhere else, the Abbruzzi sports complex was deemed the best spot for the park.
The main opposition to the park came from the Newport Little League, who didn’t want to relocate a T-BALL league despite the 14 baseball fields Newport already has. It is worth noting that Newport has ZERO skateparks and the construction and maintenance of the park will be paid for by private funds and will not cost the Newport tax payers a nickel.
Here’s the entire meeting from our Facebook livestream.
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