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Contentious Blackfalds skate park approved

Some residents feared skate park would attract vandalism, graffiti and drugs to the neighbourhood
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Residents in east Blackfalds oppose the proposed skatepark at Pine Crescent Park. Photo by Mamta Lulla/Advocate staff

A skate park will be set up in a Blackfalds park despite concerns from some neighbours that it would attract vandalism, graffiti and drugs.

Town council unanimously agreed to relocating an existing skateboard park to Pine Crescent Park earlier this week.

In approving the move, council included measures to address concerns raised by nearby residents. The speed limit will be reduced to 30 km/h from 50 km/h along a portion of the road adjacent to the park.

Council also voted to monitor the park and track any complaints or other issues until the end of September 2019. Staff will report on the results and then council will vote on the long-term future of the park.

If a skate park is dropped, the concrete pad could be used for other activities.

Town staff looked into whether the skate park had attracted unwelcome behaviour through town enforcement and RCMP records. Combining town and police statistics, there were on average fewer than three complaint calls per year to the skate park and some of those were for parking complaints or other issues.

“When looking at statistics, these numbers are relatively small considering the number of youth that would be using the skate park at any given time,” says a staff report to council.

At one time, it looked like the skate park features were to go to the highest bidder. Last summer, the announced its plan to sell off the aging equipment since the Optimist All Wheels Park was now open.

However, the public urged council to hold on to the equipment and move it elsewhere in town. Four locations were scouted and Pine Crescent Park was chosen, largely because there was a parking lot on site.



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