Jan 19, 2011 | Activism, Indoor, Photos, Skateboarding, Skateparks
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
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Jan 18, 2011 | Activism, Skateparks
According to the Red Deer Advocate, Sylvan Lake will be getting a skatepark soon:
New skateboard site ‘a good fit’ for Sylvan Lake
Sylvan Lake skateboarders can officially look forward to a new skatepark at the town’s Four Seasons Park.
Town council has approved a recommendation from the task force that has been searching for a site for the proposed skatepark.
It considered at least four locations before zeroing in on the park at 47th Avenue and 43rd Street. It benefits from a central location and is already widely used by ball and soccer leagues. The Sylvan Lake and District Family and Community Centre is nearby.
Mayor Susan Samson is confident the committee has picked a winner.
“We looked at so many different locations and at the last public open house (the skatepark) was overwhelmingly supported at Four Seasons,” she said. “It’s a good fit because it’s a recreational area.”
Being near the community centre means there are staff around if needed, as well as washrooms and plenty of parking. The ball diamonds also screen the park partially from nearby homes.
Council has been a big booster of the skatepark. It has approved $325,000 to be used for design and construction of the first part of the skatepark.
A local fundraising society has also been formed to generate more cash to expand the skatepark.
The society plans to apply for provincial grants as well as organize fundraising events.
“(The skatepark) will be usable with the amount of money we have allocated,” said the mayor. “It can become bigger and grander depending on what money comes from the user groups.”
Other locations that were rejected included a spot near Lakeshore Drive, next to H.J. Cody High School, and on Beacon Hill, close to the town’s new RCMP station.
Jan 13, 2011 | By-laws, Interviews, Skateboarding, Skateparks
Josh Etherington, CASE’s Co-Chair, is in this week’s edition of FFWD Weekly. Click his photo to read the interview:
Jan 12, 2011 | Skateboarding, Skateparks
We at CASE firmly believe that Calgary needs an indoor skatepark. It’s nearly impossible to skate outdoors in this city for well over half of the year due to the snow and cold.
In a major city like the one we live in, there should be a facility to accommodate a group of around 40,000 (estimated) users.
Skate Jungle Sticker
Many privately-run indoor skateparks have come and gone in our city for a variety of reasons. Some may have been poorly run, but the main reasons for their failure are as follows:
-Prohibitive real estate costs: it’s no secret that Calgary has expensive real estate — we’re known for it. Because rent is usually calculated by square foot, the relatively large area required to house a skatepark becomes pricey. Especially when placed in a desirable, accessible area with parking and a building that is not dilapidated with no obtrusive support pillars.
-Insurance costs: it is very difficult to find a company to who will provide insurance for a skatepark. The few that provide this service in Canada charge exorbitant amounts, mostly due to hysteria created decades ago when skateboarding was deemed “unsafe at any speed”.
These two factors add up to a hefty price tag to skate at an indoor skatepark. $10 to skate for a few hours? Most people would say “no way!” Of course, a facility would have to be very good to be able to charge anywhere near that and Calgary has had such facilities. Even then most skateboarders had trouble coughing up cash for something they can generally do for free outdoors in warmer months.
The Source Indoor Skatepark
Indoor skateparks in Canada are not impossible to achieve however. Regina, Saskatchewan has had one running for over a decade and their model is proven to work. The City of Regina has donated the building and therefore takes on any insurance liability. The staff are paid through grants applied for annually but the skatepark is self-sufficient and actually turns a profit from the small user fees and concession stand. It’s only $3 to skate for a day and most of the revenue goes back into the park for events and ramp maintenance. Helmets are required. Local skateshop, The Tiki Room volunteers time and effort to run it. Click here to view more images of the park. Video link.
Regina Indoor Skatepark
Calgary can get back on the skateboard map. Our city was once a hub of skateboard activity with many facilities running simultaneously which were visited by top pros. All we need is the help and support of City council and we’ll be rolling — outdoors and indoors. Hopefully Calgary will be known for something other than high real estate costs, The Stampede, and lack of skateparks.
Skatopia Pro Poster (year unknown
Jan 11, 2011 | By-laws, Skateboarding, Skateparks
Calgary maps out strategy for more skateboard parks
City staff will forge ahead with developing a skateboarding strategy because facilities for the sport have fallen well behind demand.
Officials will have almost a year to complete the plan, with a recent report suggesting the number of skateboarding enthusiasts in the city numbers in the tens of thousands.
Right now, there are just three skate parks in Calgary, a far cry from the nine — including two indoor facilities — in Edmonton.
The effort to develop a strategy is good news to one skateboarder. Trevor Morgan, with the Calgary Association of Skateboarding Enthusiasts, envisions regional skate park hubs in the city, with smaller parks scattered around.
“These youth just want to be active, that’s the bottom line,” he said. “And if we give them the right venue to do that, and integrate it in the right way, and make sure the public understands it, then you get a really successful space where youth interact with everyone else.”
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
Jan 5, 2011 | By-laws, Skateparks
City rolls forward on skateboard park consultation
By RENATO GANDIA, CALGARY SUN
The wheels are moving to find ways to build more city skateboard parks.
The city’s Community and Protective Services committee Wednesday endorsed administration’s recommendation to involve not just the members of the Calgary Association of Skateboarding Enthusiasts (CASE) but the public to determine how the city can provide more skateboard facilities.
Trevor Morgan, who is affiliated with CASE, said the city needs to catch up with the overwhelming demand for skateboard parks.
Calgary has one large concrete park – Shaw Millennium – and two small modular parks.
In 2008, it was estimated Calgary had some 36,000 skateboarding enthusiasts, but that count is believed to have increased.
Morgan, a life-long skateboarder and long-time city resident, said he hopes the municipality is able to pave the way for catching up with the demand with facilities in four quadrants.
“There’s a need to satisfy the demand for safe, accessible recreational opportunities for skateboarding communities,” he said.
City administration has until December to report back to the committee on the public’s take on more parks.
Mayor Naheed Nenshi asked bureaucrats at the meeting why the process is taking about a year to complete.
General manager Erika Hargesheimer said the broader community needs to be involved in the process by giving their reactions on the idea of building skateboard parks in their areas, and such consultation takes time.
The city also needs to figure out how to finance the project if council decides to build more parks, she said.
