A proposed skateboard park could find its way to a residential area of Sundridge.
Council has directed staff to look into what it will take to create the skateboard facility at the end of John Street, a forested area the municipality owns.
Coun. Steve Hicks lives on John Street and said he had no issue with the park being not far from his home.
Council was also asked to consider putting the skateboard park at the Edgar Street Park which is going to be home to a full basketball court, an outdoor ice rink in the winter, a playground area for children plus a picnic area with parking.
This recreational activities park is also in a residential area.
Coun. Barbara Belrose preferred the Edgar Street Park site in an effort to keep all the outdoor activities in one area.
“It’s a safe area and we would have a village hub,” Belrose said.
Deputy Mayor Shawn Jackson, who is overseeing the Edgar Street Park project, said about the only area left at the site that could accommodate a skateboard park is a forested section.
He said putting the park any closer to the basketball court, playground area and parking site would create too much concrete.
“That’s not a good layout. It would be too cramped,” Jackson said.
Jackson also said if this park is going to become the site for the skateboard park, it would be a while before it can get started because there’s still plenty of work to be done to complete the features that council approved for the park last year.
Coun. Fraser Williamson believed locating the skateboard park at the Edgar Street Park would result “in too much going on” there.
Fellow Coun. Steve Hicks said he preferred keeping the rest of Edgar Street Park pristine and indicated his support for the 57 John Street site, acknowledging the facility would not be far from his home.
Mayor Lyle Hall said he had no special preference for where the skateboard park is situated.
Staff options council rejected were the municipality buying privately owned land it would develop into a skateboard park and also making a donation to South River in order to add more features to the skateboard park that opened there last summer.
Belrose opposed the South River option because the distance between the communities, although under 10 kilometres, would require parents to drive their kids to the site on a regular basis.
Council started talking about creating a skateboard park last year and staff was instructed to start looking into what it takes to create such a facility.
The debate picked up momentum in January when staff came back with a report indicating that, depending on what the municipality wanted, a skateboard park could cost from $50,000 to as much as $800,000.
Although there was no appetite for an $800,000 skateboard park, there appeared to be a consensus that a facility around the halfway mark was doable.
Council talked about setting aside a specific amount of money for several years, like $50,000, and then after four years it could borrow the equivalent amount and could be on its way to building a $400,000 skateboard park.
No decision was made to pursue this route.
Staff will report back to council with more information on the 57 John Street site at a future meeting.
Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the North Bay Nugget. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
