Don't panic, skateboard park being demolished to make room for new ramps

SACKVILLE - Five skateboard ramps at Sackville's Met Skate Park will soon be demolished and removed.

But before local skateboarders begin panicking, the work is part of a facility upgrade that will include new ramps made of wood, steel and plexiboard secured to a concrete pad.

"There is a fairly major project to fix and upgrade the skateboard park. It is definitely one of our better-used recreational facilities," said Lower Sackville Coun. Bob Harvey.

The municipality is cost sharing the upgrade. They applied for and received a provincial recreation funding grant. Harvey said he and Coun. Brad Johns made up the shortfall from their discretionary capital funds.

Harvey said the skate park upgrade is part of a larger plan for Metropolitan Field. This summer, they spent more than $50,000 refurbishing and resurfacing the Met Field tennis court. He said HRM has plans to revamp the Met Field track, but that will have to wait until it becomes a major capital project.

"Between the skateboard park and the tennis court that has already been done, we've spent about $150,000," Harvey said.

The Met Skate Park was born more than a decade ago when local residents began complaining to the municipality about youths skateboarding on the streets. A temporary solution involved using the Lake District Recreation Association's arena surface in the summertime.

Harvey said the municipality eventually settled on a second unused tennis court at Metropolitan Field as a "temporary" skate park.

"The idea was to use that tennis court at Met Field with the plan that if something better comes up we'd move. But there has been nothing better in terms of visibility or accessibility," he said.

"This site now, after 10 years or more use, is the permanent site unless something else turns up. But it would cost money to prepare a site and I assume we will continue with this for the foreseeable future."

The tender document for the skate park project states new construction is expected to take place this month.

ydentremont@hfxnews.ca