News/Commentary
Will Regina skaters ever get their skateboard park? After years of delays, a citizen's environmental organization is now calling for a moratorium on a proposed skatepark in Regina’s Wascana Centre, citing potential negative environmental impact, safety concerns for skaters, and lack of a support and involvement from the surrounding community.

 “We request an open and unbiased public inquiry be held to investigate the entire process and decisions made thus far,” the Parkland Preservation Partnership wrote in a letter to Mayor Pat Fiacco and Council, dated Sept. 11. 

 This latest development should come as no surprise. Internal city documents obtained by ActUp reveal City Hall's site choice for a skatepark site had little public support, compared to other locations.

Regina ripper: still waiting.
Photo by Don Jedlic-Oktober Revolution

Site dumped

A ‘resource binder’ that councillors received to aid their deliberations reveals the majority of citizens and organizations who contacted the city preferred to have the skatepark in North Les Sherman Park, as originally recommended by the city’s skatepark advisory committee. When the city did its preliminary investigation into locations, the Cathedral Area spot emerged at the top of the list, ranking high in safety, suitability and skater support.

 But the site was dumped after Mayor Pat Fiacco’s 2003 campaign manager jumped into the fray. A homeowner in River Heights, directly south of Cathedral, he helped lead a putsch to keep skaters from enjoying their sport near “taxpaying” residents.

 Instead, the City’s Parks and Community Service Committee chose land set aside as part of a waterfowl preserve in the eastern-most part of Wascana Park. Of all the spots considered, it was the farthest away from homes and neighbourhood services. 

 “Green” candidate?

 Only seven people wrote in favour of putting a skatepark in this location, including Tim Haynes, who is running for council in Ward 3 on a 'save our green spaces' ticket. In an online survey, Haynes wrote he would rather have the facility placed in the waterfowl area than share space with "intimidating" teenagers in the park near his private home.

 While officially Les Sherman Park is a city park specifically zoned for active use, containing several ball diamonds, a play structure and a soccer pitch, Haynes defined it as a quiet area for senior citizens, property owners and walkers who don't wish to be bothered by others. At public meetings, he became one of the main spokespeople against the youth-friendly facility.

 "Parents who commute to the park with their young children to enjoy a quiet, peaceful and safe family moment may be forced to no longer choose to utilize this wonderful space," he wrote about a stretch of lawn between the diamonds and soccer pitch, which seldom sees people but was once popular with dogs before the off-leash park was created.

 Youth feared

 "The existing users of this park will be intimidated and ultimately displaced," he added, presumably by the neighbourhood's frightening population of young people. At public meetings, youth were accused of, among other things, buying up all the cheese buns at the River Heights bakery.

 The 'move it to Wascana' campaign received a boost when the Mayor himself commented in the media that a skateboard park in Les Sherman was “not on.” From that point forward the city administration went into high gear looking for another spot, any spot, as far away from the Mayor's friends as possible.

 Incumbent Ward 3 councillor Fred Clipsham agreed the skatepark should move on. On March 22, it took the Parks and Community Services Committee only a few minutes to deliberate and place their stamp of approval on the Wascana site, a late edition to the list.

 Skaters – who just want to skate – were satisfied that a decision had finally been made. Nearly eight months later, they are still waiting for the groundbreaking.

 Problems cited

 In addition to environmental impact, among the problems cited by the Parkland Preservation group is safe and convenient access to the location, which they point out is served by neither buses nor sidewalks. They asked if the city planned to build sidewalks to the site, and at what cost, noting the Les Sherman location required no such infrastructure.

 They also raised health and safety concerns relating to the skatepark being set next to a 40,000 volt Sask Power transformer and overhead lines. “Powerlines produce electro-magnetic fields. EMF’s have been linked with health problems,” the letter said.

 The group also claimed city police recommended in a planning meeting that the skatepark should not be lit at night because the surrounding area has an overall poor safety quotient: lighting the park would give users a false sense of security and blind them to predators when leaving the area. Evening skating is very important to the skaters, so the city has promised to light the park nonetheless.

 Mixed in with these points was the usual flap about graffiti and young people traveling past residences. “Our group is looking for answers and failure to respond to our queries will result in this group seeking legal counsel,” the letter concluded.

 According to a PPP spokesperson, the City responded with a letter saying all their concerns will be answered at an October meeting of the Skatepark advisory committee.

 Following the City’s location decision, Communities 4 Sk8rs, a group this writer was involved in, wished the City well in implementing their decision and urged them to seek out community support for their choice. Unfortunately for Regina skaters, that community support remains elusive.

____________________________

What was in the ‘Resource Binder’

 Here is a summary of the written information made available to the city's Parks and Community Services committee members in advance of their decision:

 Wascana Centre

Letters from individuals

In favour: 7

Against: 30

Letters from organizations

In favour: 0

Against: 3 - Sask Wildlife Federation, Nature Saskatchewan, Friends of Wascana Marsh.

North Les Sherman Park

Letters from individuals

             In favour: 41

            Against: 28

Letters from organizations

In favour: 7 - Parks and Community Services Advisory Committee; Cathedral Area Community Association; Central Zone Board (representing 6 inner city community associations); Ecole Connaught Community School Council; Al Ritchie Community Association; Communities 4 Sk8rs; Skatepark Stewards Network.

             Against: 2 - Senior's Cycle and Walkers Club; Saskatchewan Express

Petitions submitted

 North Les Sherman

  In favour: 1668 confirmed signatures

             Against: 0

(Hayne's 'Friends of Les Sherman' group alternately claimed to have either a "petition" or a "survey" that included 200 names protesting the skatepark, however no such petition appeared in the binder, or was ever submitted to the city and made available for public scrutiny. When asked by City councillors at a public meeting what the wording of the petition was, a representative of the group declined to answer.)

Wascana Centre – No petitions

There were no petitions submitted regarding the WCA location in the resource binder. However, the PPP claims to have gathered 400 signatures against and presented it to the Parks and Community Service Committee. To our knowledge, there has been no petition in favour of this location.

Comments

Written by Guest on 2006-10-11 15:59:31 Ms. Elliott, you have indeed provided a thorough history of this project. The whole process seems somewhat unconventional and if I may, somewhat funky. And I don't mean that in the Grover Washington sense. Nice work.

Huh? Written by pelliott on 2006-10-11 20:41:28 Who's Grover Washington?

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