Let's get our skatepark finished!
By Valerie Rossi
Ed.: Come out on Saturday and be part of the fun, because this is one fundraiser that’s bound to be LOTS of fun. Whether you’re an avid skateboarder or a newbie, or just a creaky old person like me who will never be on a skateboard but thinks this is a terrific amenity for the whole community, get a ticket to support getting this park completed. Read on!
Press Release:
An entourage of pro skateboarders are dropping into Rossland this weekend to teach kids some skateboard tricks, and park etiquette as the community gives one last push to raise some funds for the Rossland Skatepark.
Adam Hopkins, Steve Denham, Trevor Frame and a few other Vancouver mystery guests will join Kerry McCall of Black Russian this Saturday from noon until 10 p.m. at Finish the Park, presented by the Rossland Skatepark Association and organized by Rossland resident Niva Shields.
“I was born here, and we’ve been fighting for the skate park since I was 10, so ‘96 – we’ve been fighting this for way too long and I’m over it,” says Shields, a local artist who is debuting her watercolour paintings decaled to the back of Kebbek Skateboards at the event. “We need to get the skate park going, so now my kids can enjoy it – it’s time!”
The watercolor collection for the Quebec-based company will be raffled off at the event, along with several other donations from the community at large.
“Our sponsors have been absolutely amazing, which is not surprising for this region,” says Shields. “This event has been put together by a small core of volunteers who care deeply about this project.”
There will be plenty of other radical components on deck, with live performances from local bands: Timothy Hurley and the Vultures, Dizzy Spell, Giant Water Bug and Heavy Airship.
The family-friendly event will also feature a beer garden, food vendors and kids’ entertainment from One Tree Adventures.
Tickets go for $25 for adults, $15 for youth 12-18 years old, and kids 12 and under are free. Pick yours up at Rossvegas Boardshop or The Flying Steamshovel in Rossland, JJ’s Fashion in Trail or at the event.
The goal is to raise $25,000 to pay for amenities like sponsorship signage and the last section of the street park, which will include urban features like ledges to compliment the bowl already completed, says Robin Strachan, president of the Rossland Skatepark Association.
“The main feature is the bowl transitional area – and that includes some barricades and transitional elements – and the remaining piece to be built is the street area, which really helps to spread people out a bit more and provides a little bit more entry-level and warm up areas to skate,” he explains.
The volunteer group is grateful to local contractors, suppliers and skilled labourers who designed and built the park for a fraction of what it would otherwise have cost. While the group paid full pop for the concrete finishing, most of the construction was donated, reduced or done in-kind, for savings of approximately 40 per cent.
The group has raised and spent $320,000 toward building the first portion of the park, which opened in early May, and has banked some funds for landscaping.
The flowing transitional skate park was designed after polling the community as well as considering the style of local rider and what other complementary skate parks exist in the region.
“We’re not an urban setting, so it didn’t seem like the best fit to build sort of a mimicking street park,” says Strachan. “The big cities are trying to get kids out of the downtown and off the ledges and benches and into parks, whereas we don’t really have that problem.
“We have more of a mentality toward flow and transition.”
The wheels are in motion for landscaping amenities, and the group is working with the city to pull that together now.
“There is great indication from local contractors willing to provide some support for the last leg through volunteer efforts,” adds Strachan. “The street section will be built as soon as possible, this will likely be done in June or July, should the fundraiser be a success.”
For more information, check out the Rossland Skatepark Finisher Fundraiser/Party on Facebook.
