The Jasper Skatepark Committee is $6,000 away from reaching its first fundraising goal and hopes a new online fundraising campaign will help it achieve its target by the end of August.
With $16,000 in the bank, the non-profit group already has enough to begin moving forward with its plans to redevelop the town鈥檚 skatepark into a permanent concrete park.
On June 22 the non-profit group will host a community consultation meeting with Trevor Morgan, vice-president of Calgary鈥檚 New Line Skate Parks, to get public feedback about the project.
The meeting will be held upstairs at the Jasper Curling Club at 7 p.m.
鈥淲ith the $22,000 we鈥檙e going to get a professional design,鈥� said Darrell Savage, president of the committee.
鈥淭he reason we鈥檙e doing this now is because it takes 10 to 12 weeks for them to come up with this design and we want to get the ball rolling because we want to get this done by September so we can apply for government grants.鈥�
The community consultation meeting is open to anyone and is an opportunity for people to share their ideas about the future park.
Katherine Wills, a committee member and Savage鈥檚 wife, said they have already started writing grants so as soon as the detailed design plan is paid for they can begin applying.
鈥淚n September it will actually be a full year that we鈥檝e been a non-profit society so we鈥檒l be eligible to apply for grants then,鈥� said Wills.
She described the current skatepark, which was built as a temporary park in 2003, as an 鈥渆yesore.鈥�
鈥淓ven though we might not use it it鈥檚 still nice to see it taken care of,鈥� Wills said, adding once it鈥檚 built it will be a place for everyone to use.
The committee鈥檚 work is reminiscent of the Jasper Park Cycling Association (JPCA), which went through a similar process earlier this year when it held an open house with Jay Hoots, owner of Hoots Inc., the company that will eventually build the town鈥檚 mountain bike skills park.
Last week the JPCA publically released a detailed design plan of the bike park so it can also begin applying for grants.
Last spring municipal council voted in favour of supporting both locations before Parks Canada made it official by giving its stamp of approval in August 2016.
By approving both locations, it allowed each non-profit group to begin fundraising and applying for grants.
To donate for phase one of the skatepark visit www.gofundme.com and search:
Paul Clarke
[email protected]
