4 minute read
Rotary Club of Vegreville Skatepark Grand Opening
Rotary Club of Vegreville Skatepark Grand Opening
Rosanne Fortier - News Correspondent
Anything is possible when people have motivation and a vision. Stunts and thrills performed by local people and athletes from Alberta Action Sports at their High Flying Show brought this to life when Rotary Club of Vegreville (RCV) presented the Grand Opening of RCV Skatepark on September 22.
This park is meant to be used for people on scooters, skateboarders, inline skaters, and BMX bike riders and is located at the northeast corner of Vegreville Composite High School.
There were around 200 attendees for this event which also included a fundraising Hot Dog Sale to support Polio Plus, a bouncy house, and giveaways.
As well, local dignitaries and members of RCV and District Governor for Rotary District 5370 Brent Collingwood brought congratulatory greetings.
Mayor of Vegreville Tim MacPhee mentioned that he raised his family in this town and his son started skateboarding when he was around seven. “He still skateboards today and he is 33 years old. I made a video of this skatepark the other day and sent it to him; he has been at skateparks all over North America and he said this one is amazing! I just wanted to let you know what a life changing facility this is.”
Patti Johnston, Chair of Rotary Skate Park Committee, explained the process of this happening, “The dream for the skate park began with Past President Lois Byers eight years ago.
After receiving the results from our survey back in 2016, we reached out to New Line Skateparks Inc. and began the design process to determine the scope of our project. The community was involved in the design process as this was a project for our community.
Once a final design was agreed upon, our total project budget for the skatepark and park area was approximately $895,000. We then began applying for many local, provincial, and federal grants as well as local fund raising. The fund-raising process was a long one as COVID caused us to think outside of the box on ways to continue to fund raise. We received confirmation in January of 2022, that we received $350,000 from the Community Facility Enhancement Program – Large Stream and in June of 2022, we received confirmation of receiving $267,960 from Western Economic Diversification Canada. Confirmation of both these grants was necessary prior to the start of construction.
Building a skatepark is a huge undertaking but our Rotary Club are so proud of our accomplishment. To see the number of people using the park and to know we have built something needed in our community is such a rewarding feeling.
The grant funding we received was Government of Alberta CFEP - $350,000, Government of Canada – Canada Community Revitalization Fund$267,959, and from UFA Rural Communities Foundation - $15,000. The time it took to was the ground work was started October 7, 2022 and ended October 27, 2022. Crew remobilized on May 3, 2023 and work on skatepark was completed on August 4, 2023.
The landscaping and park amenities are being installed in conjunction with the Town of Vegreville. Sensory walls (contribution by VALID) and signage is yet to be installed.”
