Instead of offering verdant vistas, the area’s next big park will be a concrete home in the shadow of the Leonard P. ­Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge.

The Department of Conservation and Recreation announced Thursday it had signed an agreement with the Charles River Conservancy to build a long-promised skate park at the North Point Park in East Cambridge. Work is expected to begin in 2013, after more than 10 years of starts and stops.

The 40,000-square-foot skate park will be the largest in New England. Skateboarders, inline skaters, and BMX bikers will all be able to use the park for free once it opens, and spectators will also have room to watch.