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Moncton skate park to get $250,000 upgrade
By Brent Mazerolle
Times & Transcript Staff
Published Tuesday February 13th, 2007
Appeared on page A1
Skate bored? Don't worry.
The City of Moncton's Assomption Boulevard skateboard park is expanding, and work to breathe some new excitement into the seven-year-old facility could begin as early as this fall.
Moncton city council set aside $250,000 in the 2007 Capital Works budget approved on Friday, and the city's director of recreation and culture said yesterday the park's users are being consulted on the design.
"We've had one meeting with local skateboarders and we plan to have another one soon," said Jocelyn Cohoon. "We're certainly open to suggestions,
"We probably had the best one in Atlantic Canada when we opened, but Halifax and Saint John now have new ones. This will let us catch up," she said.
If it seems unduly competitive to keep track of whether or not your city has the best skateboard park, consider it's not just about keeping young people off the streets and out of trouble. It's also a tangible investment in something the city has identified as one of its key economic priorities - attracting and retaining youth to offset the greying of New Brunswick's population.
One thing city officials know is that the facility has been a success since it opened in 2000. At the time, local skateboard guru Jason Murray of Skate to Snow dubbed Moncton's "the best skateboard park east of Toronto."
"This provides not only a great quality of life for those living here now," he said, "but is a great selling point to all those considering living or doing business here."
Cohoon said her department has found the youth the park serves cover a wide range of ages, from young children under parents' watchful eyes to teens to youthful urbanites in their mid to late 20s.
"It's really been a great things for kids who might not use our other city recreation facilities," Cohoon said of the groups the park tends to serve.
Also, she pointed out happily, "we haven't had any problems down there. They (park users) tend to police themselves."
The plans for what precisely to do with the park are up in the air, but Cohoon said the expansion would definitely grow toward the east.
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