There's been a big update on the Kyle Scow Memorial (KSM) Skatepark in Port Hardy.
Radius Skateparks representative Jim Barnum gave a power point presentation to the residents of Port Hardy on Monday, Aug. 26 at 6:00 p.m. inside of the district's council chambers, where he showed off the design he and his team had created for rebuilding the 21-year-old skatepark.
The KSM skatepark was originally built in 2003 thanks to a $20,000 donation from the Port Hardy Rotary Club that went towards the cement pad, a $20,000 grant from the Vancouver Foundation which went towards building the ramps, as well as numerous fundraisers from the now defunct Port Hardy Skateboard Club and other donations from local businesses.
Barnum noted they would be tearing down the old ramps and rebuilding the park using the rotary club's original cement pad. He stated the "street" section of the design will have three rails on flat ground with two of them likely being rounded and the other one being flat, two separate manual pads with one arching up and down and the other flat, ramps on each end between three and four feet in height, a bank, a quarter pipe, and in the middle area there will be a long ledge for skating.
But that's not all. Radius is also planning to build a "flow" section that connects to the street section, which will include a pump track along with other various features in the middle of the section.
Some questions from the audience included one person asking about how the park will handle all the water, which Barnum said won't be a problem as the park is already sloping and there will be drains that send the water into the nearby forest.
Port Hardy Coun. Dennis Dugas asked if there were any plans to install lighting at the park, but it turns out that isn't something Radius Skateparks would be involved in as they just design and build skateparks. The district will be looking at additional lighting through a different project.
The North Island Gazette asked if Radius would be able to incorporate a stair section into the street section of the park, which Barnum said he would take a second look at and see if they could find somewhere to fit one in, but with the budget mostly spoken for, it might not be able to happen.
Currently, Radius is aiming to start building the skatepark project in the second week of September, with a tentative finishing date either by the end of fall or sometime in the spring, weather dependent.
