The 100 Mile Youth Initiative asked the District of 100 Mile House for a letter of support for the development of a new skateboard park at the Tuesday, April 9 council meeting.
The 100 Mile Youth Initiative was founded by local mother Maria Reti who said the initiative is a “fully-insured and provincially registered project of the groundwork service community co-op” dedicated to installing a new skate park and plaza in 100 Mile House. Reti shared her group’s vision with council last week.
“We are a group who wants to increase healthy living community spaces that are inclusive and accessible, and we want to promote physical activity for the youth and all ages,” Reti said.
Currently, the town has one skatepark located at Horse Lake Road - however, many say that it needs to be improved, as seen in a Free Press poll conducted in 2020 where 90 per cent of respondents said 100 Mile House should improve its skateboard park. Reti herself a year ago started a petition to the city on building one that the South Cariboo youth could enjoy after the demolition of Slopeline Bike Park in 2023.
“There are so many things about (the current park) that does not make it very user-friendly, it’s not in a good location, the equipment is not well integrated - there is not a lot of flow to it, it’s not conducive to beginner skaters, it’s not conducive to experienced skaters, it’s just all around not quite right. It misses the mark in a lot of ways.” Reti said, describing the current skatepark. She also noted the pending reconstruction of Horse Lake Bridge will also further impact the skatepark.
“We picture something, that is more of a focal point in the community - central, accessible - in a high-traffic area,” Reti explained. However, Reti is waiting to get into a contract with Newline Skatepark Inc, before they can decide on a location - in addition to Newline conducting an assessment of where the skatepark would best be suited in 100 Mile House.
In the past, Reti has stated that she would prefer to have the location of the proposed new skatepark be at Centennial Park.
Newline Skatepark Inc is a “full-service planning, design and construction firm specializing in the development of integrated concrete skateparks, pump tracks and other progressive action sports environments.” The McArthur Island Skatepark in Kamloops is listed as one of the projects that they have completed.
There has yet to be a final estimation on how much the proposed skatepark will cost as that will depend on size and other factors. Reti says that Newline told her that construction costs for skateparks fall between $75 and $85 per square foot in the BC Interior. During the council meeting, Reti described a plaza would be about 3,000 square feet - however, that is just an estimation.
“We don’t really know how big the size of our facility is going to be yet.”
To fund the project, the 100 Mile Youth Initiative is submitting an application for a grant from the Northern Development Initiative Trust (NDIT), as well as grants including BC Gaming Capital Grants, BC Healthy Communities, Canada Community Building Fund (through the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM)).
Coun. Dave Mingo noted that both Newline and the 100 Mile Youth Initiative must get public works involved to determine the best idea for a location. Council unanimously ended up voting in support of the resolution that a letter of support in principle be provided to the 100 Mile Youth Initiative to help develop the park.