Cam Lynch Ripping in Brooks
The guys from Artschool Skateboards gave us a heads up on Cam Lynch. He’s from Brooks and skates that park a lot but it looks like he got to skate the indoor park in Medicine Hat before it was destroyed.
More on Medicine Hat Indoor Park Collapse
SBC has a story on the aftermath of the roof collapse at indoor skatepark (Central Hub) in Medicine Hat. Click the photo below to read the interview:
Another CASE for an indoor skatepark in Calgary
Do you want to see if there is a need for an indoor skatepark in Calgary? If you’re not sure, one visit to Skate Church will provide all the evidence you need. Tuesday nights, skaters from all over Calgary converge on the Dalhousie Community Church gym to skate for a couple of hours. It only takes a few minutes for the gym, basketball hoops and all, to become a skateboard park. Skate Church leaders and volunteers move the boxes, rails, banks, quarter pipes, and other obstacles into the gym and into place around the gym and presto, the park is ready for the skaters to arrive.
Skate Church Proves Very Popular
About 50 skaters this week still made for a busy night
Every Tuesday night Skate Church is packed, with skaters using every inch of the 2100 sq ft available. In the first session for 13 and under, it’s normal for as many as 30 skaters to show up. That number can grow to between 70 and 80 for the older group, who are freer to travel and can get there without their parents. Those that come aren’t all Dalhousie locals either. I spoke to the father of a young skater in the first group who drove his son from Tuscany in the northwest. One 13 year old takes advantage of the LRT station nearby to come from his home near the Heritage station in the south. Another skateboarder described his 45-minute bus ride from north Calgary. Yes, even though Skate Church is not very big as skateparks go, it is HUGE for the skaters who come from all over Calgary and cherish the skateboarding opportunity each week.
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Riley Boland in Ace Trucks Video
His part begins at 3:11
Ace Trucks in Canada from rajzilla on Vimeo.
Roof Collapsed on Medicine Hat Indoor Park
There’s been a lot of talk about indoor skateparks lately and unfortunately we’ve lost one of the nearest ones to Calgary. The roof of the Central Neighbourhood Hub in Medicine Hat collapsed on Friday night and it looks to be completely done. Luckily no one was hurt. Click the photo for the story:
Calgary Needs An Indoor Skatepark!
Every Calgary skater has gone through skate withdrawal for 6 or more months every winter when the weather turns to crap, making skateboarding pretty much impossible. Unless you have a basement skatepark or can drive to Red Deer, Sylvan Lake, or Medicine Hat, the only time you can skate is when you brave the cold and shovel snow at mills. Our town has over a million people and in excess of 40 000 skaters, it should be able to support an indoor skatepark.
Calgary Indoor Skatepark History
Calgary has had many indoor skateparks come and go over the years.
You could skate the Plexiglas window at Skatopia in the late 70's
- Skatopia1 (1977-1979)
- Rich Speed & Sport
(1983-1984) - Ramp-o-rama
(1984-1986) - Powderstick Skateworld
(1986-1989) - Skate Jungle (1989-1993)
- All School (1999)
- 403 (2000-2003)
- The Source (2003-2006)
Each of these skateparks had enthusiastic, hard working owners and skaters travelled from all corners of the city to skate there. In the end, none of them were able to make a go of it as a business despite the hard work, energy, enthusiasm and money invested. Truth is, it’s pretty much impossible to pay the high rent and utilities, expensive insurance, staff salaries, maintenance, and other expenses while charging skaters a few bucks to get in. Even sponsorship money from skate bands and shops won’t cover the huge overhead costs. From about October to March lots of skaters will come, but the rent, utilities, and insurance still have to be pad in the summer when Mills and the local skate spots can be skated for free. The only way a for-profit skatepark will stay open is if they have a generous donor willing to lose a bunch of cash, and it will stay open only as long as the generosity continues.
Successful Indoor Skateparks
Where indoor skateparks have survived, they have been operated on a not-for-profit basis, which opens opportunities to receiving grants, donations, and even casino funds to cover the costs. In Regina, the city has partnered with the SK8 Regina Association with the city providing the building and insurance while the association applies for grants and fundraises to cover the rest of the costs while managing the park. CASE believes that the Regina approach is the right one for our city too and we are promoting that idea in our discussions with the City (along with the need to change the ramp bylaw and build a network of outdoor skateparks). If you want to see an indoor skatepark in Calgary, an email or letter of support to the Mayor and to your City Councillor will go a long way. Especially if one came from every skateboarders house in the city!
Read More to see some photos of Calgary’s old indoor parks