With the upcoming acquisition of 4 hectares (12 acres) of community property for municipal recreational facilities, the Sun Peaks Skatepark Foundation (SPSF) is being formed to bring the vision of creating a world-class skate park in Sun Peaks to reality.
The non-profit group’s sole mandate is to work with the community, the municipality, local businesses and the park’s designer throughout the process of building a multi-use skateboard facility in Sun Peaks. While some skate parks in the province are exclusively for skateboarding, the vision of the SPSF is to build a park that all can ride whether skateboarding, scootering or in-line skating.
“This initiative isn’t so much about finding a suitable place for skateboarding in Sun Peaks, but more about bringing the sport of skateboarding to Sun Peaks,” said SPSF chairman Adam Earle. “Skateboarding is enjoyed by an estimated 15 million people in North America and is a multi billion dollar a year industry. Having a world-class facility at Sun Peaks would not only increase our overall awareness in new markets, it would also drive traffic to the resort that may not usually come.”
The foundation will apply for various funding grants, seek product in-kind sponsorships and raise funds for the project. Additionally, the foundation is working with industry leading skate park designers Spectrum Skatepark Creations of North Vancouver with regards to land use, concepts, budgets, designs and eventual construction of the park. Spectrum describes itself as being Canada’s only firm specializing exclusively in the design and construction of eco-friendly municipal concrete skateboard parks.
“As we’re in the midst of laying out our plans for the municipal green space/recreation area, the timing on this is perfect,” said Sun Peaks’ Chief Administrative Officer, Rob Bremner. “While the municipality will spearhead large capital projects like the ice rink, baseball, soccer fields and a future permanent school, it’s grass roots community efforts like this one that build most municipal skate parks in the province. Basically, we provide the land and assist where we can but it’s really a community based effort otherwise.”
In addition to the municipal land being allocated for a community recreation area, the recent prohibition on skateboarding within the Sun Peaks village core got the group behind the SPSF to turn a loosely talked about idea into a concrete reality.
“Skateboarders are like skiers or snowboarders, once they’re hooked on the sport, they ride for life and we need to tap into that market. While Sun Peaks offers amazing skiing, golfing, mountain biking and many other amenities, it lacks summer amenities geared directly toward today’s youth and this project epitomizes that market segment,” said Earle. “The youth who now come to Sun Peaks with their parents will come back to Sun Peaks with their kids, and so on, and adding a world-class skate park to the list of community amenities will only bolster those visitors’ draw to the community going forward.”
The Sun Peaks Skatepark Foundation is a volunteer, member-based, non-profit organization.
For more information on the skate park or on becoming a member of the SPSF contact Adam at adam@peaksmedia.com or phone 250-319-1269.
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