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Dundas safety concerns scuttling skatepark move to Palermo Park Continued from page 1 3 · Thursday, July 8, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com "As such, this report notifies council that staff is unable to carry out its direction at this time and will be delaying the relocation of the skateboard facility to Palermo Park pending the completion of future upgrades to Dundas Street," said Mark in a report to the committee. "We will be looking at alternative locations for the skateboard park immediately. When we initially came to council we did have other locations that were on our radar screen and we will be taking a look at this list again and begin some community consultations on those sites and perhaps other sites as well." Town council voted to move the West Oak Trails Skateboard facility to Palermo Park on June 1, in response to numerous complaints from adjacent residents who said the skate facility was being used for latenight partying. Adjacent residents also said the unique noise of wood striking metal, which occurs when skateboarders use the park, is constant and a quality of life issue for residents near the park. Those who use the skateboard park said their entire skateboarding community was being punished for the actions of a few bad apples, however, some said moving the "We will be looking at alternative locations for the skateboard park immediately." n Chris Mark, Director of Parks and Open Space, Town of Oakville equipment to Palermo Park would be acceptable if the park was out of commission for as little time as possible. At that council meeting, Town staff said the move would be done in a way that would result in minimal skateboard park downtime with only a few days passing between the closing of the skateboard park in West Oak Trails Park and the opening of the skateboard park in Palermo. Mark says this is no longer the situation. "We are continuing with the council direction, which is the removal of the skateboard park from West Oak Trails Park, and we will be doing that towards the end of July," said Mark."We did commit to keeping it there until such time as the skateboard classes, which have already been programmed for the park for July, (were com- plete). Following that, it's our intention to remove the equipment at that time." Mark also said Town staff intend to have the new skatepark location running by the start of the next skateboarding season. He also pointed out that the Town's Recreation and Culture Department has recently opened an indoor skateboard facility at the Kinoak Arena, located at 363 Warminster Dr. in southwest Oakville. Mark said he is also looking at placing the skatepark equipment on an underutilized parking lot at the Glen Abbey Recreation Centre for six or seven weeks after the West Oak Trails Skatepark is closed. John Foster, whose son uses the West Oak Trails Skateboard Park, argued the skatepark should remain in place. "I think it should stay where it is given the cost of it, given the convenience for the kids who are there, given the use that it gets right now," he said. "We're talking about closing this down for the rest of the year, so they will have no where to go except Kinoak until such time as we spend some more money looking for another place where there is no guarantee that it will stay either. If it absolutely has to go, it should stay open until there is some other facility in our ward, hopefully below Dundas, available for smaller kids." Indoor skatepark opens Saturday at Kinoak Arena As part of a pilot project, the Town will officially open Oakville's first indoor skateboard park at Kinoak Arena with free admission and giveaways on Saturday, July 10 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Skateboard enthusiasts can watch demonstrations at the grand opening celebration, or take their own ride on the stateof-the-art equipment with features including quarter pipes, grind boxes and launch ramps. "It's an innovative use for our empty ice pads," Oakville Mayor Rob Burton said. "The success of the indoor skateboard park at Kinoak will allow us to assess the need for subsequent indoor skateboard parks or similar amenities at other arenas during downtimes." The Kinoak Indoor Skateboard Park will offer sessions for younger and inexperienced skaters, as well as sessions for more seasoned riders. Drop-in schedules include all-ages; 12 and under; 12 and over; 18 and over; and intermediate and advanced skateboarders. The Kinoak Indoor Skateboard Park, 363 Warminster Dr., is open daily Monday to Saturday until Sept. 4. In order to evaluate the success of Kinoak Skateboard Park pilot project, users are encouraged to provide feedback by emailing recandculture@oakville.ca. Children eight and under must be accompanied by an adult aged 16 or older. CSA approved helmets are mandatory. Also new to Kinoak is Skate and Swim Ramp-O-Rama, the new week-long skateboarding camp program for 10-14 year olds. For schedules, admission costs, programming, and rules and regulations visit www.oakville.ca/skateboardpark.htm. Speak up! You can comment on any story in today's Oakville Beaver at oakvillebeaver.com.