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Battle is on for Pemberton skatepark

The Pemberton Skateboard Society will have something on the ground by the end of the summer, but exactly what will depend on the level of financial support they can leverage over the next few months.

The Pemberton Skateboard Society will have something on the ground by the end of the summer, but exactly what will depend on the level of financial support they can leverage over the next few months.

At a recent council meeting the Village of Pemberton awarded the Pemberton Skateboard Society a $10,000 grant, which was then matched by the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District and the Pemberton Recreation Commission. Combined with past fundraising and grants the society now has a total of around $35,000 in seed money - about one-tenth of what they estimate it will cost.

However, the society has also been approved for matching grants from the province and federal government through infrastructure programs that are only going to be available through the end of the summer.

With those matching funds the society would have roughly $105,000 to start construction on the park tomorrow, but with an estimated price tag of $360,000 for the park they will need to more than triple their own funds.

"The provincial and federal government will each grant us up to $120,000 in matching funds... based on our cost estimate of around $360,000," said Chris Addario of the skateboard society. "If we raise $100,000 we can get $200,000 from them, or $100,000 from each, but we're obviously going for the full amount so we can have all the features we want."

With each dollar raised for the park worth three dollars, the society is kicking their fundraising efforts into overtime. Some of the efforts underway include a bottle drive, a fashion show at the Big Sky Golf Course on April 10 and a poker night at the Pemberton Legion on April 24. And that's just the beginning.

"There are various donor groups in the area we're making applications to, and we're also working on all fronts to have local fundraisers that get the community involved and get the awareness out there," said Addario.

The first step of construction is get the site - adjacent to the new recreation centre and pump track on Portage Road - backfilled and preloaded, and work got underway on Tuesday. Once the preload has settled the construction can get underway.

The clock is ticking. The society will need to have most or all of its funding in place before construction can get underway, and the project has to be underway by fall for the work to be completed by the start of next winter when the provincial and federal grants expire.

If the society cannot raise the entire $120,000 required they will go ahead with whatever funding they can raise between now and the summer, then continue to raise money in the future to add to the park. But the opportunity to obtain matching funds through provincial and federal infrastructure grants may not come up again, says Addario.

"It's safe to say that there's going to be something there by the end of the fall, but to get the park we want there's still a long way to go and we definitely need people to support this, whether it's through the bottle drive or the fundraisers," said Addario.

The skateboard community in Whistler and Pemberton is already involved. Showcase Snowboards recently held a live art event with Converse shoes, with the proceeds going to the society. The Circle skateboard shop in Whistler is working to organize a fundraiser during the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival. The skateboard society has also started a letter-writing campaign to local businesses in search of donations, sponsorship and more ideas for fundraising.

The site picked for the skateboard park on Portage Road and Cottonwood Street still has a few issues, namely its location under power lines. Although the site has been approved by B.C. Hydro some parents are worried that long-term exposure to the power lines could lead to health problems for children. However, recreational uses are generally approved by B.C. Hydro because exposure to electromagnetic fields is limited.

Addario says the society looked at several sites, including the other side of the recreation centre and Pioneer Park, but neither location was considered suitable and alternatives at the site - raising or burying the lines - were too costly.

"Definitely (location) was a concern, but I think that ultimately we had to go with the site we were given. If there was a better spot for it and we could put it there, great. But we're working with a limited timeline so essentially we're in a position where we have to move forward with something or risk losing the grants that we were given," said Addario.

Addario is a skateboarder himself, although he says he doesn't ride as much as he used to. Like most members of the society his chief motivation is to provide recreation opportunities for kids in the region.

"There are a lot of kids in this town that want to skateboard, and they definitely need more things to do here," he said. "There are also a lot of parents who still skateboard and want to have fun, too, and I think this will be a perfect venue for that. We're trying to accommodate all the different levels and groups in the design."

The design is being finalized by Spectrum Skatepark Creations of Vancouver, Canada's leading skatepark design and construction company.

To get involved, the Pemberton Skateboard Society has created a Facebook page and will post information on fundraisers in the Events section.