Work getting underway soon for long-awaited skateboard park
Osoyoos skateboard enthusiasts will soon have their long-awaited skateboard park.
Plans are in place and just need approval from surveyors and engineers.
Last week, Kyle Dion, Director of Skateboard Park Development for New Line Skateparks was in town with the plans.
Dion met with the Sonora Centre's Gerald Davies and Carol Flynn, Councillor Dick Flintoft and Unity Clothing and Boardsports' Jamie Elder, who has been spearheading the skateboard park project for some time.
Once we have the plans approved, we'll put out a Request for Proposals and get moving on things, said Davies.
Elder said the community of Osoyoos has come together to see the skateboard park become a reality.
The Town of Osoyoos had challenged the kids to raise a total of $50,000 toward the building of the park, which the town would then match with another $50,000.
The kids were able to raise a total of $55,000 toward the new park through a dinner & dance, bake sales, video nights at the shop, and canvassing door-to-door, Elder said.
What was really amazing about it was the fact the kids raised that money in October, November and December, typically when the annual population of Osoyoos is at its lowest.
We then went to the town at the end of the year to request an additional $50,000, which we got, Elder said.
Given that Penticton recently received a Capital Funding Grant in the amount of $390,000 for their skateboard park, Elder said the Osoyoos park will be designed on a shoe string, within a budget of about $155,000.
Elder said he could have applied for the same grant had he known the process was not that complicated.
Fifteen grants were given for skateboard parks throughout B.C., with the minimum funding level coming in at $90,000.
I sure hope the town will come forward if there are any cost overruns, Elder said.
This park is a community issue. Everyone from 8-year-old kids to eighty-year-old grandmothers want to see this park.
The location, at the southeast corner of the Sun Bowl Arena parking lot between the Curling Club and Highway 97, is ideal, said Elder.
There's good visibility, it's a safe area, the arena will be accessible to the kids and there is a good residential buffer. The park area will roughly total 7,000 square feet.rnElder said he would involve the kids in a community project to help clear some of the brush and trees from a portion of the park area.
Councillor Dick Flintoft said he wanted to see construction of the skateboard park happen quickly.
If we receive tenders back in late June, work could possibly begin in early July. The town is committed to seeing this happen as soon as possible, Flintoft said.
Once work begins, it will likely take two months before comple-tion.
It's a relief to see the park becoming a priority, said Elder.
It has been a long process and it's great to see things finally move ahead.
* * * Osoyoos will host Local Qualifiers in DC Shoe Co.'s National Skateboard Championships on Sunday, July 24.
There will be over 100 kids participating in the all-day events, with lots of sponsors and vendors involved, Jamie Elder said.
The winning kids will get their names posted on the DC web site and there will be tons of prizes given away.rnA small entry fee will apply, with 100 per cent of the proceeds being donated toward the new town clock planned for Pioneer Walkway.
