Fuming skateboarders fenced out of popular Cowboys Park for music festival
Local skateboarders are in a tailspin after finding fencing and scaffolding are blocking their access to a beloved skatepark in downtown Calgary.
The skatepark at Cowboys Park is temporarily off-limits to accommodate the long-running Cowboys Music Festival, which is scheduled for next month. The popular local space is Canada's largest outdoor skatepark, according to the city.
The advanced skatepark bowls will remain open in the meantime, but the city's website said the beginner and intermediate bowls will be closed until at least July 30.
"It's a very short riding season, so to do this is just completely outrageous and unacceptable," said Calgary skateboarder and BMX rider David Hoare.
"It's a public park. It's a skate park … it's not a venue for drinking."
The central park space and basketball courts at Cowboys Park are also closed. A statement from the city to CBC News all amenities will reopen after July 30.
The Cowboys Music Festival will be held during the Calgary Stampede, from July 3 to 13. This year's lineup includes popular artists like Macklemore, Thomas Rhett, and Akon.
Hoare launched an online petition aimed at pressuring the music festival to clear off the skatepark, which more than 1,800 people have signed as of Saturday.
"There's definitely a big community of both skateboarding, bikes, scooters that frequent the park," he said. "It's well-utilized, for sure."
There are no other skateparks in the downtown core, Hoare said, and a limited number of other spots in Calgary where skaters can go instead.
Closure a 'punch to the heart'
The temporary closure "threw a wrench" in Ninetimes Skateshop's plans for its annual Go Skateboarding Day event on June 21.
Jasper Westbury, who works at the Beltline store, said organizers are still looking for another location.
"It would have been nice if they considered Calgary skateboarding and skateboarders as stakeholders in this situation," he said.
"A direct heads up — that even would have been sick. Like we would have appreciated that."
Skateboarder Meghana Iyer said finding access to the park restricted felt like a "punch to the heart."
"This is a very, very special place," she said. "It seems counterintuitive to set all of this up and let people just party here."
Iyer doesn't have a car and said travelling to other top-quality skate parks would be difficult or time-consuming.
Gerhard Wilczek has been skateboarding at the park since it opened in 2000.
He tries to skate at the park once or twice per week, and was caught by surprise when the temporary closure took effect.
"Unfortunately, I'll have to get in the car and drive somewhere to go skateboarding, whereas here I can just ride my bike or walk over," he said.
"You've got to get out and enjoy it before the fall and winter get here. So July is going to be tough having to find other spots."
Previously known as Shaw Millennium Park, the space was renamed Cowboys Park after the city inked a 10-year naming and sponsorship deal with the owner of Cowboys Dance Hall and Cowboys Music Festival, Penny Lane Entertainment.
Using the cash from the sponsorship agreement, the city began work to transform the park in March into a "multi-functional event space" that will host "many other festivals."
Phase one of the project, which is on pause for the summer, includes improving utilities and electrical infrastructure, and adding a hardened surface to the event space to accommodate people with mobility needs.
CBC News reached out to both Cowboys Music Festival and Penny Lane Entertainment, but did not hear back by the time of publication.
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