The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Wheels in motion for indoor skatepark
Skaters gonna skate — at least until there's snowfall in Halifax Regional Municipality.
Then, they and bikers, rollerbladers and kids on scooters have to find a snow-free spot, like a parking garage or abandoned warehouse, or hang up their wheels of choice for the winter.
But Tayvon Clarke is hoping an indoor skatepark will be built in HRM.
“Me and my friends usually go to an underground parking lot when it's raining or snowing and we can't skate outside,” the 23-year-old skateboarder said in a recent interview.
“But we usually get kicked out and it gets frustrating because we have nowhere else to skate and do the things that we love.”
So on a rainy Tuesday, Clarke started an online petition calling on the municipality to build an indoor skatepark. Now, a week later, the petition has garnered more than 3,000 signatures.
“I had no idea it was going to blow up like this,” Clarke said.
However, Nate Oliver, president of the Halifax Skateboard Association, isn't surprised.
“There hasn't really been a space in the city since the early 2000s,” Oliver said after reminiscing about skating at TKO in the north end.
"None of these people have anywhere to go in the wintertime, basically, or they just put on long johns and deal with it but that's not very fun either.
“There's a couple little private things that happen here and there, but they aren't a regular thing and they're not accessible to everyone."
The closest option for those in HRM is the indoor skatepark in Riverview, N.B., or Summerside, P.E.I., as Nova Scotia is the only province without one.
But Oliver said when he recently chatted with Coun. Waye Mason (Halifax Downtown South), the wheels started turning on how to
make an indoor skatepark in HRM a reality.
Mason suggested an indoor skatepark could be built at one of the upcoming recreational centres in Halifax and the Bedford-sackville area.
“There's opportunities to be included in the design of a facility that is going to be built anyway, and I do think this is the kind of thing that makes sense,” Mason told The Chronicle Herald.
“It's far better that the people who want to skate have somewhere safe to do it, rather than them taking risks, especially in the winter by going to private properties or somewhere that isn't that safe.”
Mason said while he hasn't seen Clarke's petition, he would take it to Halifax regional council.
“It's got 3,000 signatures on it, it's something that I've been hearing from others in the community and it's something I support, so I'd be happy to bring that forward,” he said, adding skateparks at the Halifax Common and Dartmouth
Common have been flooded with people on skateboards, bikes and scooters, especially since the pandemic.
Clarke and Oliver, who have been in touch with each other since the petition launched, said they would be happy to work with city staff and the community on developing a plan for an indoor skatepark.