Last year, on Aug. 8 Dylan Reimer, 17, broke his collarbone after he was thrown off his skateboard due to a pothole at the Radley Beach skatepark.
A week later, the hole was fixed up. As per the CAO Sheryl Worthing, the hole was fixed up as soon as they were made aware of it and this year will see the skatepark get a facelift as well. “The 2020 Budget includes funding to resurface the skate park. The project will be completed during the 2020 construction season,” she said.
The Burns Lake Rotary Club, along with members of the community had built the skatepark over 20 years ago. As soon as the construction was completed, the Village of Burns Lake took over its management. Since then, the recreation department has taken charge of doing monthly inspections and the Public Works Department is in charge of maintenance for the skatepark.
Despite the inspections however, Reimer had told Lakes District News about the widening of the holes in the skatepark over the years. “It’s been getting worse this summer. There’s more mountain bikes and scooters at the skate park. People keep going over them and they keep chipping,” he had said. The resurfacing of the skatepark, set for this year, will then come as a relief for Reimer and the several other regulars of the skatepark.
When asked about how COVID-19 had affected the department and the inspections, Worthing pointed out that despite this pandemic, public works crew were carrying on with their daily operational tasks. However she also said that some recreation staff had been laid off because of the multiplex closure. The lowered numbers of staff could then affect the inspections of public facilities, however, she assured that “Recreation staff that do inspections, are still carrying out inspections as usual.” The skateboard park is closed to the public as is Spirit Square but the walking track at the park is still available for local residents. The skatepark resurface budget for 2020 is $10,000.
