St. Albert’s skate park will be closed for the next two months while it receives its first facelift since it was built 14 years ago.
But when it re-opens, the popular spot for both skaters and bikers will feature more lanes for more users, as well as enhanced fixtures such as new rails, flat bars, roll-over corners and Hubba ledges.
The cost of the fix-up is approximately $75,000. The park closed on Sept. 12 and will re-open in November, provided the weather co-operates.
“We noticed there were several areas that were in desperate need of repair,” said Micah Seon-King, the city’s community recreation co-ordinator.
An audit of the condition of the skate park was conducted in 2011 and the funds for repair passed in the 2012 budget. The city then established a nine-person advisory committee to discuss what changes needed to be made, as well as put out a tender for the project, which was awarded to New Line Skateparks.
The first concern, said Seon-King, was the state of the concrete. While the city’s public works staff would do patching work for minor repairs, the patching didn’t last because the staff did not have an operations and maintenance manual. But that will change with this facelift, Seon-King said.
“It’s exciting because part of the end is to have an operation and maintenance manual and to train public works so they know what materials to use to fix the park. That’s something that never happened before.”
Demolition of the concrete requiring repairs will be the first order of business, Seon-King said. The department has even set aside some contingency funds in case the concrete is too deep or too thick.
The Hubba ledges – sets of stairs where skateboarders perform grinds and slides – will also have new transitions. The stairs will be widened and some layers of stairs will be rebuilt by taking out one layer.
With those changes, there will be 37 lanes open for users instead of the 17 available to date, said Seon-King.
“The new features will add to the number of lines that skateboarders and bikers can use.”
The rails will be replaced and will now be flat instead of circular, as well as rounder. The project will also include new flat bars and other amenities for users to perform all kinds of tricks.
The skate park first opened in 1998. This is its first major overhaul in the 14 years it has been open.
Anyone interested can get more information on the project and view more conceptual drawings by visiting www.stalbert.ca/skate
