Harlow Skatepark is a recently built skatepark in Harlow next to Burnt Mill School. The project has been funded by investment of over £300,000, largely coming from Harlow Council with £57,500 coming from Sport England. The park also has many security features such as 24/7 CCTV coverage and is flood lit till 10 pm. It is the result of a long-running campaign for a skatepark to be built in Harlow that fist was started during the 1970s skateboard craze. The campaign had been spearheaded by the local skate shop Bigworms (now trading as Motel 6 skateshop) with the owner Steven Hemming first contacting the council back in 1989 with a 4,500-signature petition for a skatepark for the town. The park is made entirely from concrete; it is 650 square metres, has a bowl as well as a street course which contains quarter pipes, flat banks, rails and steps etc. All edges have been fitted with metal coping . It is designed by Freestyle skatepards for the use of skateboards, inline skates and BMX bikes. Although BMX users must be aware that the use of pegs is prohibited, as it damages the concrete.
Before the new Harlow skatepark there was a roller rink at Spurriers House near pets corner in Harlow townpark. this rink had been used since the 1960s for roller skating and other events but by the late 1980s it was barely being used at all. from time to time temporary homemade ramps would be set up in the rink by local skateboarders and BMX riders. in the late summer of 2000, Harlow council gave permission for the area be used for a temporary skatepark and the local skateboarders of the town designed and self built a 4.5-foot-tall (1.4 m) wooden mini ramp with a bowled corner with money raised from the skate jams that they had held in the town. The skate jams were run as part of the Harlow youth service's summer youth week events from 1996-1998.
The ramp was there for a number of years and was regarded as one of the best mini ramps in the south east of England and has since been replicated at both the new Harlow skatepark (where the bowl is based on its design) and at a indoor skatepark in Skegness. Due to wear and maintenance costs it was replaced by a "street course" in late summer 2004. This park was a lot smaller and the ramps were made from wood apart from a concrete block/manual pad. It contained a hipped quarter pipe, grind box, two hipped banks and a large drive way with two rails and a box. By this time the tarmac floor had worn rough and the wooden ramps where heavily worn due to the amount of skateboarders, BMX bikers and rollerbladers that where flocking to Harlow to ride the skatepark. Harlow council did some sub standard emergency repairs during this time in which some of the wood was replaced as it was deemed dangerous. due to the success of the temporary skatepark planning permission was finally granted for a permanent skatepark in 2006 with the park being built over the winter of 2007-2008 and opening to the public on 18 April 2008.
Several local newspapers have made articles about the skatepark such as Harlow star. There was an Etnies Harlow skate Jam in partnership with Harlow Council and Motel 6 skate shop on August 9, 2008 there was best trick comps, pro riders from the Etnies UK Team between 12 and 6pm followed by a party afterwards at The Square, with cakes and fizzy drinks. A pack of wild dogs got into the venue and had to be coaxed out with maltezers. There was also an article in skate magazines such as sidewalk magazine and caught in the cross fire. and for more info goto www.harlowskatepark.blogspot.com
Although there is a skatepark in Harlow many people still skateboard in and around Harlow at places such as the towns padding pools and its few street spots.