The Sundre Skatepark Society has been granted consent from Town of Sundre council to build a concrete addition onto the skate park.
“We're looking to build an addition onto the park because there's enough users that it's hard to accommodate everybody,” said Paul Shippy, a member of the society's committee.
“And some of the younger skaters and park users need a place to practise that's maybe not quite as fast,” he said.
The park, located on 2nd Avenue, has become quite popular, he said. He believes that the addition will decrease the risk of injuries at the park and accommodate skaters at a beginner's level.
The addition is going to be roughly 30 feet by 40 feet, which is about a third of the current size of the park. It will be added onto the north side, in the centre, he said.
“When we built the park, we kind of did a little bit of groundwork to prepare for an addition and so since we built the first part we were always thinking about a Phase 2,” he said.
“It's just lately that we've decided to revisit the park and try and make sure that it's usable for everybody.”
The park was built last year and was ready to use by the beginning of July. The committee is hoping to have the addition completed by September. However, he says there is no rush.
“The park is one of the busiest attractions in town for youth and adults, and so it's been a really big success and we're hoping that we can add a little bit to it to make it even more user-friendly and usable for the whole community,” he said.
The committee of about six to 10 members, has approximately $25,000 in the bank for the addition, he said. The money is left over from fundraising efforts to build the park last year.
Also, community members donated to the skate park society after they saw the skate park built and realized it was legitimate, he said.
The addition will consist of whatever the users decide on, he said. If the users want more features to the park, then the committee will fundraise more, but if they just want a simple addition, then the committee might not need to fundraise, he explained.
“But that's also taking into consideration that we have a lot of local businesses that are willing to donate their time and their resources,” he said.
“There are a few people that have said that they're willing to help us out again and so that drops the cost pretty much in half. That means that our money can go directly into creating the features, as opposed to spending the money on some of the labour and dirt work and the equipment, because that's such a huge part of the cost,” he explained.
“Because of some really generous community members who have businesses we're able to get a whole lot of bang for our buck.”
The society is currently waiting to receive quotes from New Line Skateparks, which is the company that built the park. After the society receives the quotes, the intention is to present them to the users and gain their input.
“We raised a lot of money through all sorts of fundraising events and we had a lot of youth who were taking part in various things in town,” he explained, adding that the society has also applied for several grants.
“We're also in the process of finalizing some of our commitments to both the town and to the people who have donated money,” he mentioned.
Some details that the society is working on completing include designating a parking area with gravel pad and barriers, fencing the park, adding benches and completing signage.
“Throughout the winter, the kids kept the skate park clear of snow and they skateboarded all winter long,” he said.
“It's because of them and their enthusiasm that it's been such a great success and the community as well, it's been a really nice community endeavour.”
When council approved Phase 2 of the skate park, during the council meeting on June 17, they raised the issue of the need for a new development permit for the addition.
Coun. Tony Jordan said he supports the project but has concerns that the society will continue to have work to finish at the park.
Coun. Myron Thompson said he supports the project and made the motion to grant the society consent to build Phase 2.
