Latest news with #skatepark
National Post
2 days ago
- General
- National Post
Tony Hawk, Mark McMorris help open skateboard park expansion in Smithers, B.C.
Tony Hawk and Mark McMorris wanted their presence at the Smithers Skate Park expansion unveiling to amplify skateboarding's importance in the remote, northern B.C. community. Article content Article content Skateboarding icon Hawk and Canadian snowboarding star McMorris travelled to the town of 5,000 people for Thursday's opening. They lauded the community's pluck in raising $1.8 million to increase the size of the street park and build a bowl for skateboarders next to the Yellowhead Highway that runs from Winnipeg to the West Coast. Article content 'I don't go to many grand openings, to be honest, but this seemed like a really unique situation,' Hawk said. 'I don't want to say it's the most remote area, but in remote areas, skateboarding is still a valid option for kids to choose, and they want to do it. We need to provide facilities for them.' Article content McMorris, a three-time Olympic slopestyle bronze medallist whose 24 X Games medals is the most among snowboarders, has a special place in his heart for skateboarding. Article content 'The first board I ever got on was a skateboard,' McMorris said. 'It's been so important in my life. That's how I made a lot of friends. It's where I spent a lot of time at the skate park in Regina. Article content 'I can just only imagine what it would be like if Tony Hawk came to Regina to open a skate park when I was a kid. Some kids' minds are going to be blown, and some new skateboarders are going to be born from this event.' Article content Article content The expanded street park cost $1.2 million and the bowl another $600,000 to build, said Smithers Skate Park Society vice-chair Christy Sawchuck, who is also known around town as 'Rad-Mom' because of her love of skateboarding. Article content Article content 'We don't have the municipalities that can fund something like this. We're doing it all on our own,' Sawchuck said. Article content 'We had local non-profits and foundations that got us started with large donations. We had many local companies that gave us discounted materials and services.' Article content The Power To Give Foundation contacted McMorris, who in turn reached out to Hawk. The two men have crossed paths in the action sport community and in Encinitas, Calif., where both have homes. Article content 'He is an extremely large figure. Larger than life, larger than the sport itself, so for him to agree to do this is very special,' McMorris said. Article content Hawk's Skateboard Project in the United States helps build parks for underserved communities, so what Smithers has done aligns with his beliefs.
CBC
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
#TheMoment Tony Hawk made a surprise visit to a B.C. skatepark
Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk talks about going to Smithers, B.C., to celebrate the opening of its expanded skate park.
CBC
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
Tony Hawk, pro skater, pays surprise visit to Smithers, B.C.
One of the world's most recognizable athletes has paid a surprise visit to a small B.C. mountain town, population 5,000. Tony Hawk, who revolutionized skateboarding with several new tricks and helped popularize the sport through his athletic performances and a line of video games, is in Smithers, B.C., in the province's northwest, to help celebrate the expansion of the community's skate park. "Hey, what's up Smithers? It's Tony Hawk. Someone told me there's a skate demo happening at your new park?" he said in a video posted to social media. "That's pretty cool, I may have to check it out." The Smithers Skate Park Society has been advertising a "pro skater demonstration" to celebrate the completion of the park's expansion but had not previously revealed who would be involved. According to the society, Smithers — located 661 kilometers northwest of Vancouver — was the first community in B.C. north of Kamloops to have a dedicated skate park, first opening in 1996, and has been working over the past several years on a major expansion, at a cost of nearly $1 million. The expansion includes new features for skaters, such as an eight-foot bowl, as well as lighting, benches and signage. The celebration, which includes a demonstration by Hawk, as well as learn to skate events, will be underway all afternoon Thursday.
CTV News
5 days ago
- General
- CTV News
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
BBC News
6 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Changing rooms revamp at Grimsby skate park given go ahead
Plans to revamp the changing rooms at a skate park in have been given the green Humber has secured planning permission for the next stage of its project at Grimsby's Kent Street skate park from North East Lincolnshire scheme includes creating a new multi-use hall space for workshops, mentoring, and community events, as well as installing new heating, lighting and Baty, YMCA Humber's head of operations, said the group was "really pleased" to get the go-ahead to extend the building. He said: "This project is all about ensuring that the space is safe, accessible, and filled with opportunities for young people to stay active, build friendships, and develop new skills."YMCA Humber bought Kent Street skate park and the adjacent disused multi-use games areas (MUGA) from the council in park then reopened as part of a £400,000 refurbishment project last skate park and former changing rooms were then refurbished in spring last year, with the latter turned into space for a free youth club. Other work that has been ongoing since March has included the installation of two new 2G pitches with floodlights, fencing, and upgraded access points, so that different sports, including football, netball, hockey and futsal can be played youth club's expansion is set to take place later in the year, with further plans to refurbish the open-use tarmac MUGA now being put in place too, according to the Local Democracy Reporting to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
