When I first heard the news about the District of Port Hardy putting $550,000 towards rebuilding the KSM Skatepark I was in shock, so much so that I didn't really believe it at first.
I'd heard so many times over the years how there were definite plans in the future to upgrade/rebuild the aging skatepark, but every single time those plans ended up in the exact same place, falling through the cracks.
It only really began to sink in a few days later when the district's CAO broke the news to me that Radius Skateparks had been hired for the design-build. That was when I realized it was in fact going to happen, the KSM Skatepark would indeed be upgraded/rebuilt, and I have to say that I for one am beyond excited about it.
Over the years, there has been numerous requests made by residents, promises from our local government and a service club, attempts to find grant funding that constantly turned up empty handed, and just when it seemed like it might never happen, out of nowhere, the funding was approved in the 2024 financial plan.
Yes, it's been a long time coming. I've been writing regularly about the skatepark since 2015 when I first moved back to town and accepted the reporter position here at the North Island Gazette. It has always been a project that was on my radar, and it's something that means a lot to me personally.
I went to high school here at PHSS with a lot of the people who were originally involved in getting the park built in the first place. I wasn't one of them, I'd already left town to go to university at that point, but even still, I thought it was really cool how they managed to somehow pull the project off with no funding whatsoever from the District of Port Hardy.
I love skateboarding. I've enjoyed it since I was a little kid when my parents bought me my first old school 1980s-style board, and I plan to actively keep up with the industry even when I'm not able to skate anymore.
I know that time is coming soon. My days spent riding a skateboard are now numbered as I continue to get older, but luckily, there's still lots of young kids here in the North Island who want to learn how to skate.
I really hope their voices are the ones heard at the meeting on June 24, and I don't see why they wouldn't be.
The KSM Skatepark was originally built in 2003 for the youth of the North Island. The rebuild should be the same.
Tyson Whitney is an award-winning journalist who was born and raised in Port Hardy. His family has lived in Port Hardy for more than 40 years. He graduated with a degree in writing from Vancouver Island University in 2008. Email: editor@northislandgazette.com
