The Town of Oakville is inviting residents to a drop-in open house at Glen Abbey Community Centre on January 27 from 7 to 9 p.m. to provide input into a proposed skateboard facility at Glen Abbey Park.
“Given the high concentration of youth in the area and with its proximity to the community centre, Glen Abbey Park is an ideal option for a permanent location,” said Chris Mark, director of Parks and Open Space. “Public input is important and we welcome resident and skateboard park users’ feedback at this open house.”
[Editor: Read our previous skateboard park coverage here, here, here, & here.]
A similar skateboard facility installed at Iroquois Ridge Community Centre has had little to no inappropriate youth activity. Staff believes that the reasons could be because the facility is next to a busy community centre with a full-time staff presence within the facility, and in close range of video surveillance cameras.
If you are unable to attend the public meeting in person and wish to provide comments, please email floconte@oakville.ca or fax to 905-338-4188. For additional information, please call 905-845-6601, ext. 3158.
Tags: glen abbey, skateboard parks
About the author: Richard Douglas
Richard contributes articles, photos and video about news and events happening in the Town of Oakville, Ontario.
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I don’t like the idea of the skateboard park being in Glen Abbey Park. I live in the condos right across from Abbey Park Secondary School, and we already see enough damage, and teens from that school hanging out on our property, and hanging around in our underground. We have complained many times to the school, only to have them do nothing. And now, with the students not allowed to smoke on school property we are seeing more of them do it on our property. Leaving their mess behind. If they allow the skateboard park to go up in that park I can just imagine how much more mess we will need to deal with.
I am a skateboarder and i go to abbey park and i support the placement of the skate park at glen abbey. I know which appartments you live in and i dont see how moving the skate park to glen abbey will affect you at all, as a matter of fact i think it would reduce the number of skateboarders on your property because currently there are no skate parks anywhere around the glen abbey area therefore having the skatepark at glen abbey would divert attention away from properties such as yours. Whenever i am told i am not allowed to be on a property everyone always says “This isn’t a skatepark” the only problem is there are no skate parks to go to. I think that glen abbey is a great location because it is very convinient for many skateboarders and i also dont think there should be any type of noise issues because if you look at most other skateparks they are situated much closer to residential housing. a skatepark should be treated any differently than any other recreational facility.
I would have to agree with Alex on this matter. As someone who has been skateboarding for the last eleven years, and teaching skateboarding through the city of Brampton for the last six years, I cannot stress enough the importance of having skateparks built. We, as a society, are allowing our children to become progressively senedtary, and pushing any manner of recreational facility is a positive step away from this trend. Couple this with the fact that skateboarding has reached the point where it is now a more popular activity than many organized sports, and the need to accomodate seems entirely self-evident. In response to Janent Lindsey’s comment, I can understand why one may be annoyed by the presence of skateboarders on one’s residential property, however, I disagree with the argument that affording them a nearby alternative will create problems – that is equivalent to arguing that building a baseball diamond will increase the number of broken windows in a neighbourhood two blocks away. Oakville has put forth a good effort thus far in catering to skateboarding, BMX, et al, and I can only hope for the skateboarding population of the city that such fine work will be continued.
I work at Glen Abbey community centre, and I dont want the skateboard park here. I’m sure most of the kids are decent kids but unfortunately they leave alot of mess in their wake, last year one of the grind rails was stolen from the park. There were alot of liquor bottles smashed out back, this never happened until the park was here. And every morning we are out there cleaning the mess.
When the park was being installed the forklift ignition was ripped out causing major damage[yes it was skateboarders had them on camera couldnt identify them]. When you ask some of these kids not to leave a mess they leave their garbage eveywhere just to insult you. If it does come to G.A I hope we have money in the budget for upgraded cameras[ultimately at the taxpayers expense] and they are not cheap. The gentleman whom was installing the park, an American from the South said he had never seen the damage or disrespect that he had dealt with here in our great Oakville. Ultimately why dosent someone tell they kids having a skateboard park is a privilege not a right? Not to mention the “tagging” that happens in the bathrooms. All this takes time to clean, and time is money.
It just seems that so many other cities have done so well giving locals a place to ride. I travel to these places as often as I can just to ride my skateboard, Toronto downtown, Etobicoke, East York, Leslie, London, Markham, Mississauga, Brampton, Bolton, Belleville, Madoc and Trenton just to name a few. Oakville is dry when it comes to its decent skateparks and the city already doesn’t seem very respectable to its riders if there basically saying you cant skateboard, but if they really refuse to put in a few ramps and a flat bar to give some skaters a fair place to ride that would really show how unsupportive Okaville is compared to all the other cites.
I have rode the setup before and its alright, pretty fun, but it is what it is, and thats just a small skate spot. If that’s what is available is to ride, it will be rode, I can assure you that. But if there are some dedicated skaters they will take care of the park on there own.
If garbage and mess is really a problem than that might be an opportunity to let a student do volunteer work for skate park maintenance. It would also be very helpful to have a broom be somehow accessible.
Yes I’m sure things will work themselves out
I attended the sad, but pathetic excuse for a meeting about the skateboard park. It seems like the decision had already been made to build it even before the meeting was held. The saddest thing of all is now I will be forced to move from the community that I have grown to love.
Oh no, a 3×4 foot quarter pipe and a flat bar, better run for the hills. Once the park gets put in I’m sure you wont even notice. There is already a Baseball diamond, tennis courts and basketball court, do you have a problem with those too?
How could a tiny skateboard park force you out of the community. I think what you are saying is totaly absurd. There is absolutely no way that the skate park would affect you so nevatively that you will be forced to move. If you still think that there will be more mess because of it, you have alredy been proven wrong. You also complained of people from my school smoking at your apartments and damaging the property, I’d bet these people have no connection to skateboarding. All a skateboard park would do for you is offer skateboarders a place to go, it doen’t turn the surrounding area into a ghetto.
I am not a skater, however, I do support (and am damn proud) of my local skate community. Skaters have been given a bad reputation for decades. A reputation which is formed by ignorant minds such as Janet Lindsay -What evidence do you have to link skateboarders to the individuals that hang around your property? Janet, the only way to escape progress is to move into a gated community.
Ian in regards to the “tagging” and garbage complaint I do agree and understand that this may become a problem. However, this is not generally connected to skaters but rather groups of individuals who choose to hang out at skateparks after hours. Any decent skater would tell you that they would never “tag” their skatepark. As spray paint can cause damage to the ramp surface.
Skateboarding will continue to evolve and progress is a part of any developing community. Okaville is behind the times in that terms of development. Take a look at any successful skatepark around the Greater Toronto Area. They have become places where parents can take their children to learn safely. For example the City of Brampton offers many skate programs and Cj’s Skatepark and School caters to all levels and abilities in a safe, clean, family atmosphere. Allowing skaters to have an area where they are not harassed and are permitted to skate will prevent people from skating on public or personal properties.
It’s nice to know that a non-skater can still have the same mentality as me and many of my fellow skaters. I’ve been skating for close to 6 years and I can say first hand that a lot of the “mischief” and wrong-doing at the first west oak trails skatepark was actually more often than not, people NOT there to skateboard but just hang out instead. To put the blame on the skateboarders solely is absurd. We have no where to go, signs for no skateboarding everywhere, always getting kicked out, yet the town of Oakville takes away our skatepark within the 12 months of it going up. Good one guys. Lets think before next time before throwing away more than 60 grand.