Fort Smith, N.W.T.'s skatepark could soon reopen after 4 years of closures

Fort Smith, N.W.T.'s skate park could soon be reopening.

The skate park, located behind the Fort Smith Recreation and Community Centre has been closed for almost two years because of undisclosed repairs that needed to be completed.

Before that, it also closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and construction on the building, bringing the total closure of the park to almost four years.

Contractor Jeremy Beamish and parent Brendan Tsetso, approached town council at a meeting to offer their services free of charge to finally get the park open again. 

"You don't need money, I'm sick of this whole money thing" Beamish told the mayor and council. "We have enough people in this community, what do we need to do to get that skate park unlocked?"

There was some confusion over why the park was closed. Dianna Korol, the deputy mayor, said there was a discussion with the previous senior administrative officer that an inspection was done and the park was found to be unsafe.

Beamish asked the town to let the community lead the way with the repairs so that they can get the gates open to the youth — something the town was very open to and seemed to appreciate the gesture.

Beamish, a carpenter, said that there are a number of other skilled contractors in the community who have also offered their services to the project, such as Terry Freund from Precision Industries.

"It's in our back pocket for the town of Fort Smith to get that thing open," Beamish said.

Coun. Kevin Campbell praised the men for stepping up to help and he encouraged others to do the same.

"I'm all for the skate park," said Campbell. "Let Jeremy run with it now, he wants to take the initiative so let him run."

"We always say let the community take something on and go with it."

Coun. Dana Fergusson also agreed with Beamish and Tsetso that the park has been closed for far too long.

"I hate the fact that it's locked up," she said. "You go to Fort Resolution or Hay River and it's open to everyone, I don't know why ours is fenced in."

The question about liability did come up but was resolved by the suggestion that a "use at your own risk" sign be placed on the premises.

The Town of Fort Smith's senior administrative officer Tracy Thomas asked the men to submit a proposal for this week's meeting, outlining what needs to be completed and how they will achieve the task.

'A safe place to go'

Beamish said it's a big win for the community.

"It's gonna mean a lot for the youth, it's a big thing for the youth to go to the skate park and hang out, it's going to give them a safe place to go,"

In the same meeting, Beamish also proposed the creation of a pump track in the community. A pump track is a circuit-style track that cyclists can use to train on.

Fergusson said the track was already something the council was looking at building in the community and welcomed Beamish to take on that task as well with other local businesses and contractors helping.

Beamish agreed.

Coun. Louise Beaulieu was very supportive of the two new projects getting off the ground, saying it would be great for the youth.

Tsetso said he is looking forward to getting the work done and appreciated the town being open to the idea.

"It's really nice that the council is really 100 per cent supportive. I think there's some next steps to do it formally. So we'll just see what they require for that and go from there."