Homeowners cry folly on skate park plan for east Blackfalds

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“It’s going to be horrifying,” she exclaims. “It’s been a beautiful area just for families to unwind and take their little ones or dogs out for a walk. When we first moved to town, we were told this would be a beautiful little parked area with trees and walkways and whatnot. Well two blocks away they did that, but ours never got done much with.”

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Dyck, along with Crista Snider and several other neighbours presented their concerns to town council last week.

Snider says people weren’t informed about the skate park, nor were they able to share their thoughts.

“We were just a bit surprised. We were actually informed by Fortis Alberta because they needed access to our electrical box to do some renoing. That was the way we found out,” she says.

In addition to the skate park, the Town is also putting in permanent boarding for an ice rink. It’s unclear how the boarded area will be used in the non-winter months, but residents aren’t a fan of it taking up space from other activities either.

Mayor Richard Poole admits while the skate park is a new idea, the boarded skating rink has been in the works for that park since 2013. It is part of a three-phase plan, he explains, which is a result of feedback that residents wanted recreation opportunities on the eastside.

“That plan had been vetted, and we’d had public discussions. As far as we knew, everybody in that area should’ve known about that,” he says, noting consultations held in the lead-up to the 2013 civic election.

As for the skate park, he says, “We had concerns about that (negative behaviour) at our brand new one from the folks directly north of there. There will be youth there, but what we’re looking at is the equipment going over will be more suited to the younger kids and they’ll be the ones able to utilize it, maybe learn a few skills and fit right in with the neighbourhood.”

Poole suspects older kids will stick to the brand new facility at All-Star Park. He adds that when the old equipment finally does become obsolete, the cement pad they plan to pour could be transitioned to a basketball court or something similar.

In terms of listening to the concerns of residents at a recent meeting, Poole says they were heard loud and clear.

“They were very positive and clear in the explanation,” he says. “What council decided to do is receive all the information and on June 12, we are going to revisit this and have a discussion about the whole thing.”

Dyck and Snider are both pleased about the decision and remain hopeful for an outcome in their favour.

“If this town keeps going like it is, they’re going to be pushing a lot of people out. They don’t care, it’s all money and taxes,” Dyck says. “I don’t want to be a complainer, but it is a bad situation in town here.”