About 50 skateboarders and parents turned out to a users meeting on Wednesday at the Recreation Center to discuss safety and general park etiquette.
Zev Klymocho of Newline Skateparks was on hand to lead the discussion. He talked about the need to keep the area free of garbage, glass and share the park with other users such as bikers and rollerbladers. He said he hoped users wouldn't deface the park with graffiti. As an example, he said costs to rid graffiti in Calgary are about $80,000 per year — enough money to make significant improvements to the park if that money were diverted back into infrastructure.
Klymocho said everyone who uses the park should wear protective gear and should only do tricks when the park isn't very busy.
A good portion of the meeting was dedicated to group discussions around a series of questions including park safety, how to share the park with non-boarders, how to handle less than desirable behaviour and how to make it the best park in Alberta. Among other ideas, boarders said they would like to see more demonstrations at the park from experienced boarders, potentially add some music to the venue, add better lighting to the park, have park supervisors and a separate schedule for older and younger users.
Alison Caputo, from Advanced Telecommunication, was also on hand to talk about the partnership she is working on with The Playground Guys that would see outdoor fitness equipment put adjacent to the park. The idea, she said, would be for older park users and parents to be able to have an activity close to the park where they could supervise younger children while getting some exercise themselves.
Caputo said a skatepark in Invermere, B.C. has a similar setup and she believes it would work well.
“It's something that we think we can put along (a path). This is what we're hoping to put in the park,” she said.
Although the idea would need the green light from town council, Caputo said she would like to see the equipment put in the park this spring.
“We want to provide some positive (activity) for families. If we have our way, I would like to see it in by the grand opening (scheduled for June 18),” she said.
In an interview following the meeting, Klymocho said his main reason for attending was to make sure users all have the same understanding of etiquette that should be followed.
“I'm all for safety equipment. And another big part of safety is being aware of other users, being aware of your surroundings … and basically looking before you leap and using a lot of common sense,” he said.
Barbara Hill, the town's director of community services, said the objective of the meeting was to get users to think about how to use the park cooperatively.
“It's not just about ‘what are they doing, what are we doing?' It's about what are we doing together. It's a new, fantastic facility that we have in the community, and we know that there's lots of growing pains that it's going to go through. We know that there's a culture of cooperation that comes with the skateboard park and there's also a fear of some of the real negative things that can go on when kids gather to do activities,” she said.
Hill said she was not surprised by the sensible suggestions the youth came up with.
“I think they need a chance to be heard, I think they need a chance to share their ideas,” she said.
Because of the weather last fall, Hill said the town didn't have the opportunity it wanted to kick the park off in grand style. As a result, an event is being planned for the third Saturday in June beginning at 11 a.m.
"We know that there's a culture of cooperation that comes with the skateboard park and there's also a fear of some of the real negative things that can go on when kids gather to do activities."Barbara Hill, director of community services, Town of Olds
