Skateboarders will have to practise their ollies, tailslides and kickflips as a provincial grant of more than $439,000 ensures a skatepark is coming to Cedar.
The government awarded the Regional District of Nanaimo close to $600,000 Thursday for three projects, including the Cedar Skate and Bike Park to be built on a portion of Cedar Community Secondary School property. The money is through the $30-million Community Recreation Program.
“Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited to hear that?” said Vicki Suddaby, Cedar Skate Park Association chairwoman, when she heard the news. “Oh my, there is a God.”
The $625,000 project, more than 10 years in the making, needed all funding in place before the Nanaimo school district would OK the use of the land.
“We got the kids to write letters and people signed petitions proving there was community and business support for the park,” said Suddaby.
Along with the government grant, the RDN is contributing $139,000, and the association has nearly $47,000 in community donations.
“I’m just happy for the kids in Cedar,” said Suddaby. “There’s lots of organized recreation, but there isn’t a place where they can just hang out. It doesn’t matter what time of day you’re driving through Cedar, you can always see someone on a bike or skateboard.”
Nanaimo has a skatepark at May Richards Bennett Pioneer Park in the city’s northend and a skatebowl behind the Nanaimo Curling Centre. Ladysmith also has a skatepark, but there’s nothing close to Cedar.
“It’s tough for the kids to get all the way out to north Nanaimo,” said Suddaby. “Lots of parents have to work.”
She said Cedar’s park will be different.
“We want it to be Cedar’s park, not a copy of something else,” she said.
Tom Osborne, general manager of recreation and parks with the RDN, said the next step is to formalize a land-use agreement with the school district and then begin the construction design phase.
“The conceptual design is all done, the geo-tech work has been completed and we have to get it tender-ready,” he said.
As for a timeline, Osborne said the RDN needs to plan for all three projects that received funding, including park upgrades in Bowser and Qualicum.
“It’s great news for the communities the funding is going to, but we are obviously going to have to prioritize work plans for the staff involved to see these things through,” he said. “They’re all No. 1 priorities we’ll be working through the coming year.”
Suddaby said the sooner the better for her, but she realizes there is a process to be followed.
“There’s a lot of pre-work that needs to be done. We’d be lucky to break ground this year,” she said. “We’re probably looking at next year.”