Can We Make Our Dream Skatepark a Reality in 2016?
By Robin Strachan
The dream of a world class skatepark in Rossland could be close to becoming a reality.
After last December’s fundraising push when over $61,000 was raised in a single month, the Rossland Skatepark Association announced their intent to build the park in 2016.
The RSA has been working away on all of the details, from tweaks to the overall design, the rezoning of the site, and a myriad of other tasks. And has had the support of Rosslanders like Ritchie Samuelson who, on his own accord, organized the successful SPFR Outdoor Concert at the end of August, and made a significant donation to the RSA’s efforts.
They have also been working on writing grants and creating other fundraising plans. So just where are things at? With a number of big ticket items such as the park design, site survey and the land on which to build already paid for, the estimated build cost is $400,000. “Right now, RSA has $130,000 raised” says RSA board member Heath Clement. “That may seem like a big gap, but with in kind donations from local suppliers and contractors, and grants we are working on, we are looking at what equates to $100 per household in Rossland in donations to get to where we need to be to make it happen.”
Steve Cutt, of Nelson & District Credit Union, who orchestrated the $30,000 in matching funds for the December fundraising drive, states “One of the anonymous donors from the December campaign was so impressed with the challenges and the community rallying together for this cause, that they have offered another round of matching funds.”
These matching funds mean that during the RSA’s fundraising drive this fall, every dollar raised will be matched dollar for dollar, up to $10,000. The RSA campaign is planned to be bookended with two events. The fundraiser kick off, during Golden City Days, is the 6th Annual Miner Threat Mini Ramp Skate event on the ramps set up in the Rossland Curling Rink – Saturday September 12th 10am – 4pm, and Sunday September 13th from 11am-4pm. Entry is by donation, with all proceeds going to the 2016 build and being matched by the anonymous donor. The final event is the Second Annual Rocky Horror Picture Show and dance, Oct 30th at the Miners Hall. Mark your calendar and expect to see tickets on sale soon.
And what is happening between these events? RSA will once again be using the local online fundraising site yodel.org. “Using Yodel allowed us to do both a crowdfunding campaign in the traditional sense, as well as have RSA supporters sign up for personal challenges and collect pledges from friends and family. The challenges really inspired people from outside of Rossland, who might not normally give money to our local park, to donate to show support for their friend or loved one. We were excited to see donations come in from Australia, Europe and from across Canada and the USA. We are hopeful we can repeat that success,” states RSA President Robin Strachan. “We are putting out the call to all skatepark supporters to come up with a personal challenge, sign up on the yodel site, and collect online pledges for the cause!”
Interested in taking on a challenge of your own, donating, or seeing what challenges have already been completed in support of the park? Go to http://rosslandskatepark.yodel.org Looking for ideas of what kind of challenge you could take on? Check out http://yodel.org/51-yodel-challenge-ideas
