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NATALIA MANZOCCO
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL
SAINT JOHN - After seven years of fundraising and lobbying for a place to call their own, the skateboarders of Saint John will finally have the skate park they've been wishing for.
Common council gave the go-ahead Monday evening for construction on the proposed uptown park to proceed, and upped the city's contribution to the project to $350,000 from $265,000, in order to satisfy skaters' desires for the best possible park.
"With regard to the extra funding, if we're going to do it, let's do it well," Deputy Mayor Stephen Chase said. "It's an exciting project. Skateboarding has waited a long time for this."
The Saint John Skate Plaza project has been assigned several tentative start dates over the years, but city manager Terry Totten was "very confident in saying it will be this summer".
Outside the meeting, none were as pleased, or as relieved, as the skaters. "It's about time," said Syndicate Skate and Snow owner and longtime skater Nick Vincent.
"I'm tired of seeing kids getting kicked out of spots, getting their boards taken away, getting fines because they don't have anywhere to go. Now we've got our own central location, and we're going to skate it as much as we can and just enjoy it."
The contract to build the skate park under the Mill Street viaduct was awarded last year to Langley, B.C., firm New Line Skateparks. The preliminary designs for the park, as drawn up using input from community skateboarders, would have cost $607,000.
The plans were redesigned to stay within a $500,000 budget, a move some skaters weren't happy with. A report submitted Monday to council by commissioner of leisure services Bernie Morrison recommended that additional funds be donated to the project from the 2008 leisure services budget.
The green light for the skate park may not be the ideal situation for all involved, however. At the meeting, council reviewed a letter from the Harbour Station Commission, stating that the facility stood to lose 35 parking spaces - and an estimated $35,000 a year in revenue - if the park went ahead as planned.
"Harbour Station has some legitimate concerns," city manager Terry Totten said.
"It's adjacent to the parking lot. Obviously, there are security issues."
But he believed the arena could use other parts of its property for parking, or use the skate park's presence to make up the difference in business.
"These venues attract spectators," he said. "I think when the parties get together, it can be a big win for Harbour Station as well."
The facility had already agreed to the construction of the park after the city confirmed it would install fencing between the two properties and replace an exit at the corner of Station Street and Smythe Street that would be lost.
Vincent outlined a number of ways the two facilities could work together to bring business to the area, including holding extreme sports competitions or hosting a date on the Vans Warped Tour skating and music festival.
"The possibilities are endless," he said.
