About 35 local residents attended a public information meeting on potential locations for a proposed skate park here on April 10.
The Drayton Skatepark Committee provided information on a proposed design for a skate park, and offered residents a chance to vote for their preference from among three short-listed locations for a facility.
From an original list of seven, the list of possible locations has been pared down to:
– adjacent to the batting cage at Drayton Kinsmen Park;
– the PMD Arena parking lot; and
– the lower level of the Drayton municipal parking lot.
Skate board enthusiasts who spoke at the meeting indicated a preference for the municipal parking lot location. Because the parking lot is already paved, money would not have to be spent on a concrete pad, meaning more of the funds raised for the project could be devoted to equipment. Easy access to local stores and restaurants was also cited as an advantage of the downtown location.
Committee member Joanne Brown noted that although the parking lot location would place the park close to a funeral home, it could easily be blocked off with pylons and declared off limits when necessary.
Bruce Schieck, a member of the Drayton Entertainment board of directors, expressed concern the conversion of the parking lot would have a negative impact on the downtown.
“We’ve been trying for 25 years to get the cars off the main street in front of the businesses,” he said, noting the Festival Theatre attracts between 25,000 and 30,000 visitors to Drayton each season.
Many of those in attendance expressed concern about the potential for noise emanating from the skate park.
However, Graham Cook, of Canadian Ramp Company, pointed out a new facility, made with properly-engineered ramps and obstacles, would be much quieter than the wooden ramps currently in use at a home-made skate park created by local young people at the end of a cul-de-sac in the Drayton Heights subdivision.
Councillor Neil Driscoll asked Cook if his company could bring a ramp to town for a demonstration.
Cook said that is not something the company can offer.
“Then it would be a used ramp,” he explained.
Cook suggested local residents could visit skate parks in other communities to see how they work.
Brown said the citizen input collected at the meeting will form part of a presentation to Mapleton council in May.
