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This city could have
been spared a lot of grief if this facility had been put in this
location about 15 years ago.
Guards may patrol skatepark
Janet French, The StarPhoenix,
March 14, 2005
The City of Saskatoon may add
security guards to the Lions Skatepark for the month of April
in response to continuing safety concerns.
The park, which opened in September
2003, was a magnet for thefts and scuffles until the city contracted
security guards to patrol the area in mid-April 2004.
The community services department
is proposing the city spend an extra $2,200 to ensure guards
are in Victoria Park from April 1 until the end of October this
year.
"Given the weather conditions,
the kids will be down there and security is an issue and they
want to make sure that if there are people down there doing it
that they are safe," Ward 6 councillor Elaine Hnatyshyn
said Sunday.
A community development report
to the city's planning and operation committee says the security
company, Flaman Investigations, said the park only needs one
guard patrolling at a time, not two, as there were during peak
hours last year.
"I think for the security
company themselves to say we only need one security guard speaks
to (the fact) there aren't the security issues that were once
anticipated being there," said Catherine Gryba, manager
of community development. "The feedback that we've gotten
from parents and patrons is that it's nice the security guard
is there but it really did not have any reported incidents happening
at the skate park that needed security."
The security guards came too
late for Mike Wilk. Kids at the skate park stole his then eight-year-old
son Donovan's bike at the park last April. That might not have
happened if a guard was present, he said.
Wilk thinks the area might
be too large for only one guard, though.
"It was nice to see their
presence around the skateboard park, but I did find that also
where you park your vehicle is quite a ways away," he said.
Gerarda Paton said the guards
might have helped her last April as well. She drove to the park
to pick up her son during the Easter break and was steps away
from her van when someone smashed open her window.
"My son was under the
impression there were security guards and that is why I had let
him go originally," Paton said. "After that point,
I've never allowed him to go again. I may consider it if there
was security guards there."
Corey Neufeld, who owns skate
shop Nine Times Boarding and served on the advisory committee
for the skatepark, said the extension of patrol time would be
a good thing, since kids use the park whenever they can.
City's budget tight:
Hnatyshyn
The number of guards on patrol
is irrelevant, as long as they carry cellphones and can call
police when necessary, Neufeld said. The city should also assign
officers to the park during special events, he said.
"(We need) some way we
can know actual police can have contact down there," he
said.
Hnatyshyn said she hopes bicycle
police and the new mounted officers will patrol the area during
the summer to ease some of the users' concerns.
Last year the city spent $13,600
on security guards for the park. About 160 people used skateboards,
BMX bikes or in-line skates at the park each day during last
year's warm weather. The city offers skateboarding lessons for
kids and hosted several demonstrations last summer. This year,
city administrators are asking for $15,000 to keep an eye on
the park.
Although safety comes first,
Hnatyshyn said the city's budget is tight this year. The extra
$2,200 should be diverted from an area of lesser need, she said.
Council's planning and operations
committee will examine the proposal Tuesday, said Ward 3 councillor
Maurice Neault. The recommendation will then proceed to the administration
and finance committee, who will work it into the budget.
Neault said council should
vote on the budget in late March or early April. If the budget
isn't approved until after April 1, city administrators will
have to decide whether to pay for guards to watch the park on
an interim basis, Neault said.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2005
Skatepark horror stories spark
concerns among users
Rod Nickel, The StarPhoenix,
November 10, 2003
Recently heralded as a boost
to Riversdale, Lions Skatepark has instead become a place where
skateboarders have been threatened at knife-point and targeted
by thieves and vandals, says the owner of a city skateboard shop.
Corey Neufeld, a skateboarder
himself and owner of Nine Times Boarding, said users are paying
the price for the city's decision to build the $500,000 skateboard
and bike facility in Victoria Park over the objections of a steering
committee on the project.
"From the very start,
they let it be known, council and city staff, that that's where
they wanted to put it," he said. "The problem is it's
not the safest neighbourhood."
Lions Skatepark opened earlier
this fall.
Since then, Neufeld said many
kids and parents have shared troubling tales with him, such as
one of a knife being pulled on some park users and a BMX biker
having his bike stolen and getting beaten with a chain.
Vandalism to cars is also a
concern. Neufeld said his own vehicle was deliberately scratched
across both doors and a fender was dented.
"Everybody's got a horror
story and parents will not leave their children there again,"
said Kelly Patrick. She no longer takes her daughter and son
there to skateboard and bike because of the park's reputation.
"A lot of kids have been roughed up."
Downtown's Kinsmen Park was
the steering committee's top choice but objections from some
cross-country skiers removed it from the city's consideration,
Neufeld said.
Coun. Owen Fortosky, who represents
the ward in which the skateboard park is located, defends the
facility despite "growing pains.
"By far and away, it is
the most positive thing that has happened in that area in a long,
long, long, time."
Saskatoon Police Service's
most recent report for Victoria Park shows no increase in reported
incidents, said city neighbourhood program consultant Marj Orchard.
"We just don't see a huge
cause for concern."
Despite problems, users are
flocking to Victoria Park, Neufeld admits.
He has asked the city to consider
possible solutions, such as hiring professional security to replace
paid "hosts" -- skateboarders who informally keep an
eye on the facility -- lockers, extended video surveillance of
the parking lot and development of a second major skateboarding
facility in the city.
The city is considering all
of Neufeld's suggestions as it reviews the skatepark, Orchard
said. It hasn't ruled out a second park, but that would require
long-term planning, she said.
Lions Skatepark is the best
facility in Saskatoon, although there are smaller parks in Lakeview
and Forest Grove.
Neufeld said problems at the
skatepark mean boarders will return to skateboarding downtown
near businesses, such as the Delta Bessborough. A year ago, skateboarders
inadvertently damaged the clock tower outside the hotel.
The city's planning and operations
committee will review the skatepark at a meeting Wednesday.
© Copyright 2003 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
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