Temporary skatepark opening this summer

A temporary skatepark will be available to use this summer, giving community members and visitors a fun option while fundraising for a permanent skatepark continues.

Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality (SPMRM) approved the concept of a portable skatepark during a council meeting on May 3, after Tourism Sun Peaks (TSP) offered to contribute $25,000 for equipment. 

The park will be municipally-run and located within the Sun Peaks Centre rink. TSP’s contribution will help purchase aluminium features such as quarter pipes, grind rails, launch ramps and fun boxes.

Shane Bourke, SPMRM’s chief administrative officer, told council the equipment is easy to move in the event of a larger booking at the rink throughout the summer.

“As an interim solution until we look at helping support a permanent skatepark, this could provide an additional feature for both visitors [and] residents,” Bourke said in the meeting.

The municipality recently allocated land east of parking lot five for a permanent skatepark. This means the Sun Peaks Skate Park Foundation can move ahead with design and engineering to be eligible for grants to help cover the high costs of future construction.

Meanwhile, Bourke said the temporary skatepark will run as a supervised activity and be funded by small fees to cover operating costs. The municipality is still determining pricing, but fees will include single, multi-use and season passes.

Similar to SPMRM’s approach to public ice skating, the skatepark will operate in time blocks.

Bourke said since this will not be a primary village amenity, there will be limited operating hours unless a larger demand is established. 

The initial plan is for the skatepark to be open for four hours on the weekends throughout June and September, and open every day for four hours in July and August.

SPMRM also agreed to have further discussions with TSP about other summer activities in the community, such as minigolf and basketball.