Communities For Skaters

Skatepark Stewards Network

The Skatepark Stewards Network is a neighbourhood network of volunteers who have agreed to look in on the site, pick up stray garbage and report any problems with the facility. If you live near North Les Sherman, or walk through the park regularly, you are welcome to put your name on the list. To do so, contact us by email.

posted by Communities 4 Sk8ers @ 6:55 AM 0 comments

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If you want to receive regular updates by email, and be included in discussions about meetings and other activities, please contact us by email.

posted by Communities 4 Sk8ers @ 6:52 AM 0 comments

Skatepark FAQs

Where is the location?

The proposed location is in North Les Sherman Park, also known as Turtle Park. Two possible sites are under consideration, one near 15th Ave., between the soccer pitch and the ball diamonds, and one just south of the Balkwill Centre. Both sites are outside the flood plain.

How was the location chosen?

A committee comprised of Regina Police Services, city officials and skateboarders ranked various sites, based partly on criteria developed at a user focus group meeting in November 2004. The ranking was based on things such as bus, bike and foot access; proximity to shelter; ability to integrate with existing landscape; safe and pleasant surroundings and support of location from skateboarders. North Les Sherman gained the most points; skateboarders themselves ranked it 25 out of 25. In February 2006, a series of public meetings gathered further input from residents and parents.

Who will use it?

The park will be planned with skateboarders in mind, although inline skaters and bikers will also make use of it. There are seldom more than 20 skaters at a time at the existing Lakeridge Park. Some of this number will likely use the Les Sherman park, and we could also expect the same inline skaters and bikers who are already using the bike path to stop in. Skateparks in good locations, such as public parks, are also popular with pedestrian spectators, particularly senior citizens.

Will it be noisy?

No. Skating is a quiet sport, and can be made even quieter through careful design and landscaping. Skaters tend not to cheer and shout (noises common at a baseball or soccer game). The average noise of a skatepark at 100 feet is 65 decibels, "comparable to the level of a moderate conversation between two individuals." (Noise Control Office, City of Portland Office of Planning and Development Review, 2001). The closest Regina homes will be about 100 meters (not feet) away from the skatepark. If you go to the existing outdoor park and stand on the sidewalk directly in front of the park, you hear nothing. Only when you walk right up to the edge do you hear the sounds of skateboarding. A Vancouver City noise study on the Cathedral Square skate spot identified the predominant noise of the skate area as "gulls".

Will there be lots of traffic?

The average age of a skater is 14 (National Sporting Goods Association, 2000). Many skaters are too young to drive. In any case, the preferred method of transportation to Regina skateparks is by bus, bike or skateboard. The Les Sherman site has the added access of the bike path. On a typical day at the Lakeridge skatepark, there are seldom more than two or three cars in the parking lot. At the indoor park, which is more centrally located, on most days only the car of the park attendant is parked outside.

What will it look like?

In recent years, skatepark design has become a serious architectural art that takes its cues from local landmarks and landscapes. Skateparks in public parks are designed to look like and act like plazas, providing a pleasant gathering space for skaters and walkers alike. Attractive materials like granite and brick may be used, creating parks that look nothing like the chunky cement structures of the past. Although no design has been created yet for the new park, you can view other work of the design team at the websites of the chosen project partners, van der Zalm (www.vdz.ca) and New Line (www.newlineskateparks.com).

The new skatepark at Riverdene Park in Swift Current.

What about graffiti?

Graffiti is a city problem, not a skateboarder problem. Skaters themselves do not favour graffiti because it makes the surface too slippery. But chances are if you already have graffiti in your neighbourhood, some local artists may be tempted by the new surfaces. Other cities have enacted successful zero tolerance practices in their skateparks. If graffiti is painted over promptly at the beginning, graffiti artists soon learn to invest their time elsewhere. An example is the Saskatoon skatepark, which is graffiti-free.

The Canadian Amateur Skateboarding Association writes: "Most skaters surveyed at skateparks indicate that the graffiti that does appear at skateparks is usually not the work of skaters. It is usually the work of graffiti artists and taggers. Skaters are generally open minded to graffiti and skate culture has a rich artistic tradition, so most graffiti is simply accepted or ignored by the skaters.…build a world class, quality facility that skaters will not want covered in tags…they’ll tend to enforce and spread the word within the community that graffiti is not accepted at the park. This works at many of the parks located in the US. Pride in the park reduces the likelihood it will be covered in graffiti."

Isn’t it dangerous?

Not really. Although some people assume skateparks will create too much potential liability for the city, the chances of injury are far less than in other sports supported by public facilities, like hockey and baseball. Below are some statistics:

Injuries/100 participants:
Hockey	2.7
Football	2.2
Baseball	1.8
Basketball	1.6
Bicycling	1.1
Skateboarding*	0.7

*Skateboarders skating for less than a week account for 1/3 of all injuries (US Consumer Product Safety Commission 2002; American Sports Data Inc. 2002).

What about litter?

As in any park, litter occurs when litter bins are lacking or improperly placed, and when citizens don’t take responsibility for their surroundings. Litter control will be part of the new skatepark design, and there will be a citizen's group to help ensure the park stays clean. Having a skatepark in a public park provides a great advantage to ensuring good litter control, because it falls under the work of city employees. If the skatepark is placed on private land, it won’t receive the same attention.

Aren’t skaters trouble-makers?

Regina skaters are a diverse group - young, old, male, female, rich, poor. They love their sport and are no more inclined to criminality than baseball players, soccer players, joggers or dogwalkers who also use the park. Residents and police do not report increased crime associated with the Lakeridge Park. In fact, in some cities the addition of a skatepark has resulted in a measurable drop in crime. The sport’s outlaw image comes from the fact that skateboarding is illegal on Regina streets. Sometimes young skaters use private land, like parking lots, and get into conflict with security guards. A legal facility will go a long way to helping youth gain more positive experiences from their sport, and feel more included in their community.

posted by Communities 4 Sk8ers @ 6:30 AM 0 comments

August News

Communities 4 Sk8ers NEWS - August

Skater shines

Regina skater Sarah Molder represented Saskatchewan at the DC National Skateboarding Championship in Vancouver on August 25. She placed seventh in a field of Canada’s top 15 female skaters. Pretty good for an 11-year-old in her first national event!

More Community Support

At their June 13 meeting, the Ecole Connaught Community School Council passed the following motion:

Motion: That the Council President write a letter to the Mayor and City Council supporting North Les Sherman Park/Turtle Park as the location for the new skatepark.

Dumont/Arndt

CARRIED

Skaters raise $$$

Regina’s skateboard community raised $2000 at the Lords of Honktown silent auction in August. The proceeds are to place a memorial to skater Edward Lugt at the new skatepark. As a community, let’s do our bit to make sure the skatepark is worthy of this memorial. Second rate won’t do!

Thanks to Volunteers

A big thank-you to Bill Kos of the Cathedral Area Community Association for inputting 1,200 names and addresses into the data base he created for the pro-skatepark petition (There are still more many names to enter if anyone would like to help).

Thanks to all who have volunteered for the Skatepark Stewards Network. So far nine people living by Les Sherman have put their names on a list of volunteers who will keep an eye on the skatepark.

A big thank you to Jan Beednell of Prairie Print Clipping, who volunteered to clip and send us skate park-related newspaper clippings from around the province, free of charge.

Quote of the Day

“British Columbia’s skateboarders have brought international distinction to our city with their achievements.” - Mayor Larry Campbell, upon declaring August 22-28 Skateboarding Week in the City of Vancouver.

Ring Those Phones

Those of us who have been talking to our city councilors have been getting the same message: if you want a skatepark, you need to make a call to each and every councilor, and to the Mayor. This is a lot of work, but we’ve been told it’s worth it. Most councilors have not heard anything positive about the site selection - they have only heard that "the residents are against it".

A good start is to concentrate on the Council members who are on the Parks Committee. The recommended location will be presented to Council by this committee, so it’s important to make sure they’re on side. The Parks members are:

Bill Gray, Chair 761-0919

Terry Hincks 949-9690

Jerry Flegel 777-6689

Wade Murray 596-1035

Bill Hutchinson 584-1739

Points to make:

• We want the process to be respected and not have the Mayor saying a decision against the park proposal has already been made, before the Parks Committee has deliberated.
• There are many more people in favour of a skatepark in North Les Sherman than are against.
• Skaters, police and engineers agreed on North Les Sherman as the best, safest location.
• Skaters gave the site 25 out of 25 possible points as the place they would like to be. It’s not right to invite their involvement and then ignore what they have to say,
• The surrounding community is willing to pull together to support the park and the kids who skate it.
• Part of making youth feel valued is to share public space with them, rather than shoving them off to the edge of the city. We are prepared to welcome youth to our neighbourhood and to Les Sherman Park.

Sweet!Here’s a picture of a Van der Zalm/New Line skatepark planned for Swift Current (in a park!).

posted by Communities 4 Sk8ers @ 7:51 AM 1 comments