Chester Skatepark

In September 2003 the Municipality of Chester Recreation & Parks Department embarked on a recreation needs assessment.  It became evident in the youth focus group that many youth desired a skate board park.  While the needs assessment was happening a group of students from the Chester Area Middle School went to a U-Can Conference and they were assigned the task of what they could do at their school to create some positive behaviors.  They youth came up with a plan of a skate park at their school to be located in what is known as the “snake pit” where students were engaging in activities that was not deemed to be good for their health.  The Guidance Counselor from the school called the Recreation & Parks Department to see how this project could be moved forward.  From the results of the needs assessment the Recreation & Parks Committee were creating a strategic plan for the Department and one of the strategies was to partner with someone in the community to investigate the possibilities of a skate park.  Council adopted the strategic plan in May 2004 which included this strategy.

As they say they rest is history.  The Chester Skate Park Committee was formed consisting of skate boarders, parents and community leaders.

The youth have been highly involved in this project from attending workshops, making presentations, assisting greatly with the design to fund raising.  It was by attending workshops that the youth themselves felt that a concrete skate park would be the best investment for the community.  Some of the reasons for concrete were:  in our tough Canadian climate it is a necessity not a luxury; concrete parks offer a permanent and virtually maintenance free solution; from a safety perspective concrete is better – concrete parks do not have any fasteners or sheeting that could possibly come loose and concrete skate parks are reasonably quieter than other skate park structures.

The committee has been busy approaching businesses to support this project, hosting a number of fund raisers to raise the profile of the park and of course to raise funds.  Some fund raisers have been a bottle drive, a dance and auction, a skate deck auction where artists painted a skate deck and they were auctioned off, sitting at local companies and seeking donations, selling tickets, selling t-shirts and hosting skate boarding demos.  Please click on our sponsor page to see who has supported this project to date.