Joel Banner Baird

Free Press Staff Writer

The naming ceremony for Burlington’s new Andy "A_Dog" Williams Skatepark took place Saturday amid the hissing, grinding and clattering of wheels and a thudding, bass-heavy turntable groove.

It was a fitting tribute to the skate-loving DJ, who died in late 2013 of leukemia at the age of 38.

Hundreds of Williams’ friends, families and fans swarmed to the scooped concrete landscape, completed late last year to replace a decrepit plywood course built in the 1990s.

Contributing to the stir: Skateboard legend Tony Hawk, whose foundation helped fund the project, stopped by and dropped jaws with some of his signature, world-class aerial spins, including the “McTwist.”

But Hawk downplayed his foundation’s role in launching Burlington’s park — a $10,000 grant toward a multi-million dollar project.

Instead, and in between autograph sessions, he praised the persistence of the local skateboarding community.

“This park was going to happen sooner or later,” Hawk said.

Williams was one of the project’s earliest advocates, said Trina Zide, who co-owns Maven skate shop in downtown Burlington.

“He was an avid skater, an amazing DJ and super-positive,” Zide said. “He was an amazing, light spirit.”

Some of that spirit, she added, is embodied in the Friends of A_Dog Foundation, a nonprofit that advances skateboarding and skateboard culture. The foundation also raises awareness for the need for bone marrow donors in the fight against leukemia.

The ceremony was mostly celebratory, though — in keeping with what many people there described as A_Dog's relentlessly upbeat ethos.

Students from the King Street Center danced and pranced.

The ring of spectators around the park's main bowl cheered skateboarders' near-misses.as well as triumphs.

Justin Remillard, who has known A_Dog's since third grade, looked around the energized crowd and mused that his departed friend's role in the city lives on.

"The whole city is still living his legacy and will continue to do so," Remillard said.

Mayor Miro Weinberger drew cheers when thanked the entire skateboarding community for "finishing the job that A_Dog started."

The mayor urged the crowd to look around at other upcoming upgrades to the waterfront: a new sailing center, an upgraded and extended rec path; and maybe even a world-class marina and a transformed Moran plant.

“Sometimes change is good. Sometimes change is needed," Weinberger said.

Jesse Bridges, who directs the Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Department, stayed away from the podium, but looked buoyant.

Does he skateboard?

“I’m learning," Bridges said.

Another nonskater: Kirsten Merriman Shapiro, who worked for more than a decade to advance the skatepark through the Community and Economic Development Office.

"But look around," she urged. "It’s more than a place to skateboard. It’s a place to watch, to talk, to broaden the community. It starts conversations.”

This story was first published online Saturday, June 4, 2016.

Contact Joel Banner Baird at (802-660-1843 or joelbaird@freepressmedia.com

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