Me and two friends were skating down Stephen Ave. I skated between two people I thought were bylaw officers on bicycles; they never announced they were police. They chased me through traffic and ended up tackling me at full speed from their bikes. [They] split my face open, dislocated my shoulder, and ripped out a lot of my hair. At first they tried to charge me with obstruction, assault, assault on a police officer, running a red light, and skateboarding in a no-skateboarding zone.
As I walked to the police station with them, I got a chance to talk to them, I was able to calm them down. Deflating the situation a little, they ended up only charging me with obstruction, and the tickets I got for skateboarding were never filed.
In the end it all worked out; at first the cops were being a little excessive but also doing there job. So to the youngsters that hate cops almost as much as i do, just remember keep calm, remember your manners, and show a little respect, and chances are they will go lightly.
Now that spring is almost/kind of here, it’s a good idea to get re-acquainted with the City of Calgary’s by-laws as they apply to skateboarding. If you check out this link, you will notice that skateboarding on city sidewalks is legal, provided it’s not in the “Central Traffic Zone” (essentially all of downtown). Skateboarding on any city street is technically not legal. Skateboarding is allowed on all city pathways, provided you’re not doing anything “unsafe to other people” and not breaking the other pathway rules (speed limit 20 Km/h, pass on the left, etc). You can see the pathway by-laws here.
Facilities need to catch up to skateboarding craze
By Richard Cuthbertson, Calgary Herald December 3, 2011 8:40 AM
It’s been more than 30 years since Skatopia 1 in Calgary’s Franklin Industrial Park became Canada’s first indoor concrete skate park.
One old photo taken at the site shows a 1970s skateboarder, knee-high sport socks and all, riding the edge of what looks to be a dry swimming pool.
But even with its early start, skateboarding facilities in Calgary have dragged well behind the growing interest in the sport.
A new consultant’s report, commissioned by the city, is recommending dozens of skate parks be built over the next decade, carrying an estimated price tag of $11 million.
The new strategy, which is heading to a council committee next week, comes after years of complaints from skateboarders.
With more than 34,000 aficionados in the city, the consultant is recommending the construction of 45 smaller skate parks and “spots,” ranging in size from a half basketball court to full tennis court.
Five others would be larger, up to the size of a little league baseball field.
Ideally, they would be dispersed around the city, particularly at points where there is good interest in skateboarding, according to Ron Smith, a researcher with the city’s recreation department.
“According to the model that’s being proposed, ultimately and ideally you’d like to have various scales,” Smith said.
City officials aren’t recommending council hand over a lump sum. Rather, they suggest putting individual projects on the city’s culture and recreation infrastructure wish list for funding consideration, when potential sites have been found.
The city’s reputation seems to have been to build big, but not build many.
Skatopia 1 opened in 1977 and then closed in 1979 due to insurance costs.
A series of short-lived indoor parks, with names like Ramp-o-Rama, Skate Jungle and All Skool, popped up and then faded from view.
In 2000 Shaw Millennium Park opened – an outdoor facility which at the time was considered one of the premier skateboard spots in the world.
Westside Recreation Centre has a skate park, there is a modest spot in McKenzie Towne and the city does have some temporary, mobile skate parks.
But aside from that, there is little else.
One of the big current complaints is there are no indoor facilities in Calgary, although a church in Dalhousie does opens its gym to skateboarders.
The City of Calgary Recreation & CASE would like to thank everyone who took the time to complete the 2011 Skateboard Preference survey. We heard from over 900 skateboard enthusiasts and supporters. The data collected has been synthesized and will inform portions of the Skateboard Amenity Strategy being presented to Standing Policy Committee on Community & Protective Services in November. Please check back for updates on the progress of the report to Council and detailed findings of the survey.
A lot of people ask, “What can I do to help get a new skatepark?” Well, the short answer is, “Lots.”
First of all, register on www.calgaryskateboarding.com The statistics tell of an estimated 40,000 – 60,000 skateboarders in Calgary. Sure, maybe not all of them check out this site (we hope most of them are out skating) but we hope the ones that do are registered. If we had even half of that registered to our site, we’d have a lot more pull in the eyes of some politicians. The old saying, “power in numbers” holds true when lobbying government.
Email your alderman. Email the Mayor. These people were elected by the citizens of Calgary, the citizens who pay taxes for services. When it comes to recreation, citizens decide what services they require. It would be great if the mayor said, “Millz is gettin’ kinda beat, dudes. We should build a few skate plazas, along with some bowls, and maybe a couple of snake runs too,” but that’s probably not going to happen. We need to tell our city’s leaders what we need.
Obey the Like us on Facebook. This goes back to the first point about quantifying our membership. At the end of the day, the people involved with CASE are volunteers. We meet regularly and invest a lot of time into trying to do what’s best for skateboarding in Calgary. Email us if you have any suggestions or comments. If you can donate, that helps us a lot. Being a non-profit society, we rely on donations to throw events and fund things like this site as well as insurance so we don’t get sued personally.
Come to our benefit show on April 15th. We’re ramping up for a big Summer of events and talks with the City about skateparks. We could use your help.
The City of Calgary is looking for feedback before they develop this year’s budget. Go to this site or the Facebook and Twitter sites to respond. More outdoor skateparks, an indoor skatepark, and more skate-friendly laws would be two great suggestions.
