27-05-2025
City to match funds for skate park improvements honoring Ryan Barron
Terry Barron, Ryan Barron's father, stands at the skate park dedicated to his son in Windsor, Ont. on Tuesday, May 16, 2023. (Gary Archibald/CTV News Windsor)
The city is going to match money raised for a skateboarding park in honour of a Windsor man killed in a hit-and-run.
Council approved an administration recommendation during Monday's meeting that will see $59,261 used from the Parks Community Partnership Initiative Capital Project to move forward with smaller improvements at the Ryan Barron Memorial Skate Park located in Atkinson Park.
The funding would be paired with $18,739 in donations raised by the Friends for Atkinson Park along with $40,522 in ward funds already provided to help build a skateboarding bowl in the park.
It was estimated the 'Barron Bowl' project would cost $100,000-$120,000 to install a full skateboarding bowl when it was first proposed in 2016, however, inflation and rising costs have increased the price tag to $400,000-$450,000, and construction has yet to begin.
The father of Ryan Barron had asked city administration to reprioritize the money that's been raised to fund improvements to the skate park, which could include rails and various concrete ramps to be determined through stakeholder consultation.
In April 2016, Barron, 30, was killed while riding his skateboard in Vancouver.
In 2018, Vancouver police arrested the then 23-year-old Amanpreet Singh Sohal in connection to the case.
In 2020, Sohal was sentenced to 18 months in prison plus a one-year driving ban after pleading guilty to a charge of failure to stop at an accident causing bodily harm.
Atkinson Park is located at 2005 Riverside Drive West, while the skate park is at the opposite end of the park at 1934 University Avenue West.
— Rusty Thomson/AM800 News
