Skateboard society finally receives approval for site to build park on
By Nelson Daily Editor
By Timothy Schafer, The Nelson Daily
At the end of several years of debate, stacks of reports, political football and never ending reviews, approval for the seemingly mythical skateboard park site for Nelson passed Thursday with little fanfare.
The scene was anti-climatic during Thursday’s regional district board of directors’ meeting in Nelson, with word smithing of the recommendation being the only thing directors debated.
Within minutes after it was moved, the northwest corner of the Nelson and District Community Complex lot was approved as the designated location for an outdoor skateboard park development in the city.
However, Regional District of Central Kootenay general manager of Community Services, Joe Chirico, laid out four conditions for the Kootenay Lake Outdoor Skate park Society under which the designation would be carried out.
The Society is required to fund the capital costs of all civil works required by the RDCK, including realignment of the parking lot, walkway and storm water management costs and all architectural, engineering, permit and development fees, as well as construction costs associated with the development of the skate park.
“I think the key piece of this was it was actually driven outside of the political forum,” said Mayor John Dooley. “I’m amazed (the Society) hung in as long as they did, but they did. It seemed like every barrier in the world was thrown up against them.”
No funds will be spent from the Nelson and district community facilities, recreation and leisure service area. As well, no construction will begin until the Society receives approval from the Nelson and District Aquatic Centre and the Recreation Commission for the design of the skateboard park.
They also must provide proof that the necessary guaranteed funds for all of the work are in place. No taxpayer dollars will be spent in the project, Mayor Dooley noted.
“But we (will) facilitate as much as we can to help them move forward. In all fairness, it is a recreation facility and we do supply recreation facilities for user groups. Clearly, it’s their turn,” he said.
The RDCK will enter into an agreement with the City of Nelson for the shared operation of the skateboard park.
City council had no say in the vote. In fact, it was the indecision and political infighting of previous councils that held up the project for years as skateboarders and the society waited for approval of a site of City-owned land to build on.
A few months ago regional district staff were sent away to complete a service analysis of the site on the NDCC grounds. They examined if the site was suitable, where liability would lie, and what it would cost to put a skateboard park there.
The final service analysis report from the RDCK — who owns the NDCC property — had been delayed for two months as operational costs were determined, utilizing a poll of eight different skateparks in the province. Financial figures averaged out that there was a cost of around $1,200 per year.
One of the major uncertainties was the issue around drainage. Swales — a low area of land that provides for drainage — had been created in the parking lot, and the area was paved in order to deal with the large amount of runoff the site received.
The NDCC site was deemed to have the greatest virtue, flexibility and safety of any of the sites the committee had considered. Other factors considered in the selection process were what site would be a good fit for the sport, what would be going on around the skatepark and whether it was easily accessible and close to amenities.
A destination skatepark for the city would be between 10,000 to 15,000 square feet.
