Calgary’s newest skatepark to open is the Midnapore skate spot.
So far, reports are positive on skateability and construction quality. Here’s a photo from opening day, courtesy of Wilco Contractors:
The park is located behind the Mid-Sun Community Centre, at 50 Midpark Rise SE.
The updated “sports ramp” (skateboard ramp) bylaw goes to City of Calgary council on November 7th for final approval. Administration has been working on the wording and technical aspects of the bylaw and now council must vote on it.
On June 20th, council voted to “Direct administration to prepare amendments to Land Use Bylaw 1P2007 that would implement the proposed regulations set out in Attachment 2“, meaning city staff could keep working on the bylaw changes. The vote was 10-5 with the following councillors against:
R. Pootmans, A. Chabot, S. Chu, D. Colley-Urquhart, P. Demong
On September 22nd, the Calgary Planning Commission recommended that council approve the new ramp bylaw.
If you support having the ability to have a ramp in your yard, feel free to contact these councillors mentioned above and respectfully explain why this new bylaw is needed. A lot of work has been done regarding the perceived noise of ramps and the city’s studies have shown that ramps are no louder than any other recreational activities that people participate in on their property.
You may also attend the council meeting on November 7th to support changes to the skateboard ramp bylaw by speaking in City of Calgary council. #calgaryskateboarding
Today’s edition of Swerve Magazine includes a great article about Calgary’s skateboarding history. It covers early skateparks, founding figures like Chuck Bell and John and Barry Hiebert, along with some general skateboarding information. Pick up Swerve in today’s Calgary Herald or click the image below to read:
Photo by Brent Mykytyshyn / Swerve
A quick search of realtor.ca reveals a number of listings mentioning skateparks as nearby amenities. It’s difficult to say skateparks have increased (or decreased) property values in Calgary, but you can’t argue that many believe it adds to their listing and makes their properties more attractive to prospective buyers. Thanks to realtor Dennis Hwang for providing stats and archived listings for us.
Here’s one in Southwood:
Here’s another one in Huntington Hills:
By Zev Klymochko, CASE Co-Chair
It’s been one year since the Edgemont Skatepark saga. It was in July 2015 that a group of vocal, albeit uninformed residents took over their community association board for the sole purpose of preventing the skatepark. A skatepark that had been approved by the previous board and the City. Their arguments ranged from “we didn’t know” to “it will decrease property values” and “increased traffic”. One of the most heinous lies they told people when they encouraged Edgemont residents to sign their anti-skatepark petition was that the soccer field would be displaced in favour of the skatepark.
Maybe you followed what happened with the Edgemont Community Association shortly after that.
How far we’ve come in just one year. We now have three new skateparks: CKE skate spot, Huntington Hills, and Southwood. All the parks are being very well used and the city is in the midst of developing three more parks: New Brighton, Midnapore, and Deer Run. Another skatepark is slated for a yet-unannounced location in northeast Calgary.
Garth Philpott at Huntington Hills – photo by John R
New Brighton Skatepark construction
Another big win for skateboarding in Calgary has been the abolition of the bylaw which makes ramps on private property illegal. Shortly before this the City seemed to simply do away with the bylaw prohibiting ramps on streets.
The City’s recreation department is expanding and upgrading the current mobile skatepark program. This comes as a bit of a pleasant surprise, considering there will be a skatepark in every city quadrant by the end of 2016.
We had Kyle Conway’s viral video, “So Stoked My Dudes”, which garnered international media attention.
Kyle Conway on CTV
Not specifically Calgary-related, but skateboarding will now be in the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020. No matter what your opinion is on skateboarding in the Olympics, you can’t deny that it will thrust skateboarding into the limelight even more. And Calgary is likely a prime training ground for Olympic skaters.
Calgary is really a great place to skate. Hopefully we can help make it even better. As always, we welcome your suggestions.
The Calgary Folk Music Festival will have a mini-ramp set up onsite this year! And we will have an information booth right next to it. Come say hi this weekend. The ramp is free to skate with a festival pass or ticket. Helmets required and BYOB.
