History:

In the early 1990’s skaters had free reign to the Town of Hayward to skate and shred with little or no problems.  As interest in the sport grew, so did the amount of skaters and soon there were problems. In 1994 Erik Lawry, an avid skateboarder, proposed a Skatepark to the Hayward City Council as part of a school project. To his surprise, they told him to do some more research and come up with a proposal and they would consider the park. Erik started gathering as much information as he could in the hope that his dream could become a reality. In June 1995 Erik was tragically killed in a dirt bike accident. In memory of Erik, his family, friends and community banded together and took up the cause. They held fundraisers, such as, snow tubing and snowboarding parties, snowmobile speed runs and airplane rides in order to raise the funds needed for the construction of the park. By 1998 they had raised approximately ½ the funds needed to construct the park.  In order to see his son’s dream come to light, Erik’s father, Randy, donated the remaining funds. Erik’s best friend, Adam Hall, has spent countless hours designing the park in memory of his friend and in the summer of 1998 with help from Jerry Lester Construction and volunteers, the “all concrete” Skatepark was completed and the Erik Lawry Memorial Park was born. A non-profit organization was started with the task of maintaining the park and keeping it free for skaters, bikers and bladers.