Over six years in the making!
The West Shore area will soon have a brand new 13,000 sq/ft skatepark after going half a dozen years without one.
The only skatepark in the community was located at the former Belmont High School, but was demolished in October 2015, to make way for the now almost complete Belmont Market development.
When the former skate park was removed, the West Shore Skatepark Coalition began advocating for a replacement, and now the group is seeing the goal become a reality.
“On behalf of the youth and young at heart, the Westshore Skatepark Coalition is stoked to announce that we are finally at this stage. While our journey is not yet complete, the ending is oh so near, and we can’t wait to roll on some rad new terrain,” said Jimmy Miller, West Shore Skatepark Coalition president.
The new skate park will be built on the grounds at West Shore Parks & Recreation Centre and is scheduled to be completed in March 2023. It’ll be designed by Vancouver-based New Line Skateparks, in partnership with van der Zalm + associates.
“We are now able to move forward with our plans to create a 13,000 square foot multiuse space for our youth in collaboration with the users and our collective communities,” said Kyara Kahakauwila, West Shore Parks & Rec board chair.
“Since October 2015, our Westshore communities of almost 84,000 residents, has been missing a key piece of recreational infrastructure for our youth.”
“Mental and physical health are intertwined, even more so for young minds; with this new infrastructure being brought to our communities we will once again have a safe gathering place for youth to socialize, be physically active and gain confidence as they develop their skills,” added Kahakauwila.
New Line Skate Parks designed a conceptual design in 2017 which calls for the park to be built next to the tennis courts at the West Shore Parks & Recreation Centre.
The design includes a pool with a five-foot-deep shallow end and 10-foot deep end, two-foot blended rollers, and blended double pump rollers.
The conceptual design which was designed created in 2017 by New Line Skate Parks can be viewed here.
