Skatepark Information Meeting

There will be another meeting with regards to the Skate Spot in Woodbine at Woodcreek Community Centre on Wednesday, August 21st at 7pm.

Skate Spot Update - June 28th

St Jude Woodcreek Recreation Area Update

June 28, 2013

Well, it’s the end of June and the St. Jude playground has been built.  What a fabulous build day we had, thank you to all the volunteers who donated their time and talent, it wouldn’t have happened without you!

We are still awaiting one more piece of equipment, climbing blocks, which unfortunately didn’t make it in time for build day.  Our hope is to install them in the fall.  This piece should be a fun addition.  We are so pleased to see the St. Jude playground being used by the whole community.  We even saw some young adults on the Explorer Dome the other day!  Talk about a park for all ages!!

On to the skate spot.  We are hearing and reading each and every comment we receive. Here is some history for those who were unable to attend the May meeting.  WCA (Woodcreek Community Association) and FCSA (Fish Creek Sports Association) have, for over a year now, been pursing funding to build a skate spot for the skateboarders, scooters, and bikers who reside in Woodlands and Woodbine.  In September, WCA and St Jude Parent Council agreed to collaborate on a project and apply for a Let Them Be Kids Helping Hands Award.  We were successful in our application to receive funding for 50% of the playground and skate spot equipment. The build permits were applied for shortly after our award was announced in March.  Information from the City of Calgary about ownership of the leased lands has meant significant delays in the process.  We are following the City of Calgary permit application process to the letter.

Recently, Cec Jahrig met with the City of Calgary to see if it would be possible to move the skate spot closer to the tennis courts as suggested at the public meeting in May.  We thought this was a great suggestion and have been actively taking steps to see if this was possible.  The City of Calgary informed us last week that yes, we can put the skate spot by the tennis courts.  A surveyor will be in the area soon to mark it off properly.  With only two parcels of land to choose from and the parcel of land in Woodbine being the one with the space, we were pleased the City of Calgary has allowed us to utilize this area instead of the original location which was closer to the condos.

Our vision, WCA, FCSA, and St. Jude, has always been to provide a safe recreation area for children, youth and their families.  This recreation area, tennis courts, soccer fields, baseball diamonds, pickle ball courts, basketball courts, an ice rink, a new playground and a skate spot will be a location for Woodbine and Woodlands residents to enjoy all the sports and recreation activities our city has to offer. 

Our aim is to keep you updated as we move through the process with the City of Calgary.

If you have further questions or require more information please contact Cec Jahrig at Woodcreek Community Association at cjahrig@telus.net.

What an Amazing Day!

We did it!! We built our playground yesterday! What an awesome day. We had 207 volunteers turn up to help. The day started early and everyone went full out all day to make sure we got everything done. The weather held out in the morning, but it wouldn't have been a build day in Calgary without a downpour at 2pm. But the sun came out for the opening ceremonies and we were able to do our dedication to Mr. David Ritchie and hear Darren Espanto sing his song "Gotta Give a Little Extra"; which is our theme song for the project! 

Check them out the pictures here. 

Thank you to everyone who gave us their time, their talent and their treasure. It was an amazing experience, a perfect day and we now have an awesome playground for the kids of St. Jude and the community to play on for years to come. 

We are proud to dedicate the playground to Mr. David Ritchie, DOB November 4^th, 1915 in Aberdeen, Scotland. He and his family immigrated to Canada when he was 6 years old.  David served in WWII for 5 years.  He was a member of the Canadian Army, 30^th Battery, 6^th Light Anti-Aircraft Artillery.

David moved to Woodbine in 1988 to be with his grandchildren. Two of his grandchildren attended St. Jude School.  As a proud grandfather he attended many Remembrance Day Celebrations at the school.  David participated in the building of the original school playground.

David is 97 years old living at the Colonel Belcher Care Facility. We were honored to have David at St. Jude School to receive the dedication.

Getting Ready for Build Day!

3 more sleeps!

3 more sleeps until the Playground Build Day!

If you have already registered to volunteer - we look forward to seeing you on Saturday. An update will come out on Thursday evening via email with some last minute details; including a waiver for you to print and sign to bring with you on Saturday. 

The equipment arrived today and is all unloaded. So exciting!

Everyone Welcome!

Skate Park Update - June 5, 2013

St. Jude/Woodcreek Recreation Area

Skate Park Update – June 5, 2013

We regret to send out a notice informing the community that we will not be building the Skate Park on June 15^th along with the playground. We were not able to obtain a development permit in time to proceed with building. A meeting with the City of Calgary was held today, June 5^th, and it is projected we will have the green light to go ahead with the Skate Park by September 2013.

The playground build will go ahead as planned on Saturday, June 15^th starting at 8am at St. Jude School.

The skate park design was finalized in April. Along with community input, we had members of the skateboarding and scootering community look at the design and agree it was appropriate for beginners and intermediate skaters.  The consensus from the community was it will be a fun "skate spot".  The skate park equipment will be delivered on June 12th with our playground equipment and will be stored until build day.

Questions and Answers:

What is the vision of the skate park?

There is no skate park in the Woodbine and Woodlands area and the skateboarders are currently using the tennis/pickle ball courts disrupting tennis/pickle ball users and causing significant damage to the newly resurfaced courts and nets. The vision is to provide a community skate park for children and youth to use for recreation purposes.

Can I see the design of the skate park?

Please view our website at www.sjwra.ltbk.ca

Why aren’t you building a concrete park?

St. Jude School, Woodcreek Community Association and Fish Creek Sports applied for and received a Helping Hands Award from Let Them Be Kids. Let Them Be Kids is a volunteer organization that helps communities build playgrounds and skate parks across Canada. They are paying for 50% of the skate park equipment. Concrete skate parks are a lot of money. This award has made the skate park possible and not cost prohibitive for our community. 

Where is the equipment coming from?

The equipment is coming from Ramparts. They utilize an array of professional skaters and industry experts to ensure optimum safety, fun, durability, expandability, and aesthetic appeal in every project that they do.

How was the equipment chosen?

We had a dot-mocracy at St. Jude School for the students and the community. Youth were able to put their dots on the equipment they wanted to see in their skate park. Skateboard and scooter enthusiasts attended the dot-mocracy and gave their input. We took the initial designs around the community and asked for feedback. We made some changes given some feedback and came up with the final design. We also had to keep in mind our realistic fundraising goal and also had to make decisions based on cost.

Ramparts uses skatelite over polypropylene sheeting which dampens the sound.  The undersides of all ramps are fully enclosed which also helps dampen the sound.  From a maintenance standpoint, aside from checking hardware every once in a while, there is little if anything to do to maintain the equipment.

Who do I contact for more information?

Cecil Jahrig at Woodcreek Community Association cjahrig@telus.net  or visit the website www.sjwra.ltbk.ca