Stratford moving ahead with new skate park

Skateboard enthusiasts will be carving and kickflipping in Stratford this summer, as the town moves ahead with the construction of a skate park.

The plan is to set it up at the base of the entrance to the town hall on Shakespeare Drive, beside a parking lot.

Stratford has committed $150,000 towards the project and there is hope that amount can be doubled through private and corporate donations.  

This isn't the first time Stratford has considered establishing a skate park. David Dunphy mayor of Stratford, said a group of young people approached the town several years ago with the hope of seeing one constructed.

"We've had many consultations with our young people over the last three to four years," said Dunphy.

New Line Skateparks Inc. of Toronto has been contracted to do the work and there will be a public meeting on April 14 to gather feedback and design ideas. 

'We do have some ideas," said Dunphy. "But what we want to do is show them some different options and then get some feedback and ensure that what's built is what the young people in Stratford want, because there's no point in building it unless it contains what they want," he said.

Josh Langille, 20, has been a skateboarder for about five years, and although he lives in Charlottetown, he says he plans to use Stratford's new park once it opens. 

"I think it's a great thing, definitely overdue in my opinion, because the kids of Stratford don't really have anything, like, extracurricular for them to do, " and being outside, "and using your athleticism in that manner is really healthy, I think."