A planned skate park for the Hart is the first in a series of improvements to Darren Fitzpatrick Bravery Park, city council heard Monday night.
Discussions with the neighbourhood, at both the Hart community conversation in June and as part of the feedback during the recreation master plan process last year, made it clear that having a large, destination park is preferable to a variety of smaller facilities, said city parks planner Laurie-Ann Kosec.
"These are one-stop shops so everyone from eight to 80 has something to do. So the goal for Darren Fitzpatrick Bravery Park is to include everything from seniors to even toddlers, to expand the playground, including accessible trails and possibly even a fenced dog park in addition to a skate park," Kosec said.
"It is not only a skate park it's also a park design exercise."
A skateboard park in the Hart has been on the wish list for years, with numerous petitions coming to city hall. The Nechako Rotary Club - which is partnering with the Hart Community Association going forward - has fundraised for the project for years, already donating $25,000 for the concept design work.
The overall cost of construction for the park is $500,000, said Kosec.
"The goal is to reduce that $500,000 amount with fundraising," she said. "But that would happen very much with a concept plan in hand."
Creating that concept plan will be a collaborative process. New Line Skateparks Inc. - who designed and constructed the skate park at Carrie Jean Gray in 2001 - will prepare the concept design and cost estimates after a series of workshops.
Workshops to prepare the park's design will be held in September and October with the final concept design expected to be submitted in early November.
Invitations for those workshops will be sent to area residents and businesses as well as posted via city channels.
Those workshops would be a prime time for young people to get involved, something Coun. Brian Skakun said he wanted to see happen.
"I think, as we move forward, that I really want to get the youth involved and have them in the driver's seat when it comes to the design consultation because I think this is a great opportunity," he said.
Potential park users were ready to have their voice heard during the June 24 meeting at the Hart Pioneer Centre.
A group of skaters and bikers came to the meeting prepared to advocate for the park, and were pleased to hear right off the bat that it was already back on the table.
