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 15th 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 5th, 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 15th 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?
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
As I am completely against the proposed location of the skate park, I am planning to object to the develepment permit.
ReplyDeleteFor anyone who shares my concerns, please contact me at concernedabouttheskatepark@gmail.com.
Together we can make a difference!