Hi all,

The Parks Board seems intent on tearing down China Creek skatepark. It's a pretty old, some say historic park, but the main thing is, they shouldn't be getting rid of skateparks, they should be building more, or improving the ones we have. For info on what's up, check this out:

 

For Jeff chan's article on beyondrobson.com, check here:

 

But, it's not over yet - it's a public process, and there are options for us. Michel did say that the elected Parks Board members do not always follow the staffs' recommendations, so we can lobby the individual PB members directly. Their contact info is on the Park's
Board website... maybe this could be our next step, something we could do as a united effort by the VSPC and the skate community.

Here's the link to the Park's Board commissioners info:
http://vancouver.ca/parks/board/commissioners.htm

Al DeGenova has always been on side for skateboarding... he'd be good to approach about this.

One other thing to consider is that we can delay the whole process from being completed... if we insist on not having any 'interruption of service' (which according to the woman Parks Board staffer, I forget her name, is what they usually do) - meaning they CAN'T tear down the park until they find another location and build a park there... so if they were planning on tearing down the park in spring, too bad, they would have to
get a new location approved first and build something there before they could touch China Creek.

If we're considering lobbying the elected Parks Board members, Derek and I
still have all the old China Creek petitions that we collected names on - about 600 names in total... and we can start another round of petitions, and get letters from people (local politicians, business owners, skaters, pros... etc... ), present these to each individual PB commissioner, get the media out, etc.

Another thing, about the washrooms that they can't afford to build... didn't the Parks Board just build a million dollar washroom and expensive restaurant at Kits Beach like last year? Why is there money for buildings like that in a park but no money for washrooms in East Van?

Anyhow, we have options, it's not over yet - so let's not be too discouraged, and let's start planning the next step -

Check the antisocial site for the next Skate Coalition meeting...

http://antisocialshop.com