There is a new skate park at the Bowen Youth Centre and non-youth skateboard enthusiasts will be happy to note it is open to the Bowen public.
The centre's co-ordinator, Matt Neufeld, says many people put in a lot of time and effort to make the project happen.
The skate park began at a community meeting last October that saw 60 interested Islanders show up. Funding was provided by the RCMP Foundation, the Smooth Stone Foundation, Bowen Island Community Foundation, Wolfgang Duntz and fundraising work by the youths themselves.
"It is one more activity for youth of this community to take part in that is active and positive and can only reflect positively on the community," says Neufeld, who will be leaving his position at the end of the summer to pursue studies at Langara College.
It's a portable park; ramps are wheeled into storage each evening and set up again the following day. The ramps are up and running and will in place on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 6 to 9:30 p.m., with the exceptions of long weekends when the youth centre is closed.
"I would like it to be accessible by all ages and skill levels since it is the only place on the island the allows skateboarding that is safe and supervised, so families with younger children can come down and use the equipment," Neufeld says.
The skate park is a unique design, created and built by the Vancouver company Spectrum Skatepark Creations. Neufeld said that the company's president, Jim Barnum, was a huge help in bringing the project to fruition. He also noted that Christine Walker, Ann Silberman, Noah-Pryce Jones and Paul McGillivray were major contributors, and there were others. It took most of four days to build.
Helmets are mandatory and youth centre guidelines are in effect for the park.
