The expansion to Black Diamond’s skateboard park is moving in the right direction.
Following the May 4 council meeting, the Town issued a request for proposals for the design and construction of a skateboard park expansion, to take place at the site of the current skateboard park behind Oilfields High School.
Black Diamond resident Colin Fleming spearheaded fundraising efforts for the project. Over $195,000 has been raised through fundraising.
At the meeting, Black Diamond council agreed to provide a contingency fund, allowing the project to go ahead with a $200,000 budget and reserve fund. Any money from the contingency fund that is not used will go back into the Town’s operating reserve contingency fund.
Fleming said he considers the fundraising portion of the project complete, and that with the Town’s backing, they can move towards finalizing a plan for the new skate park.
“Hopefully, the construction will start in June,” Fleming said in an interview.
Depending on final plans, or in-kind donations, the contingency fund may not be used at all, he added.
“I feel that it’s fair that the Town of Black Diamond contributes to this skate park, as the community has put almost $200,000 invested in this project,” Fleming said during the meeting.
Funds for the project were raised in all kinds of ways, Fleming said, from fixing up and selling donated kids bikes, to bottle drives and cash donations.
“Everyone contributed in one way or another,” he said.
Once the park is finished, Fleming sees summer camps for kids as a possibility, and said the park will be a tourist attraction that will attract business and a young demographic of people to the town.
Skateboarders often travel to different skateboard parks in towns like High River, Okotoks or Canmore, he said.
“They’ll drive two hours to go to a skate park for the day and then drive home,” Fleming said.
He has been working at raising money for the park for about two years, and said part of the reason it was so successful was that organized clubs like sports teams or scouts were on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and not doing their usual fundraising activities.
“Timing was the success to this story, and now that everything's open up they’ll have a (skate) park to play at,” Fleming said.
“They’re allowed to be kids again.”
The pump track in the same area as the skateboard park is also being expanded, and a six-kilometre mountain bike trail will be built nearby as part of the 2023 Alberta Summer Games.
Design and build proposals for the skate park project are due on May 16.
In 2014, the skate park in Okotoks got a $200,000 renovation.
