City of Iqaluit may revisit skate park closure

The skate park at its height in 2015, the year before the number of users plummeted. (FILE PHOTO)

Luc Brisebois and his sons stand in the foyer of Iqaluit City Hall on Tuesday evening. They came to lobby for the Iqaluit skate park to remain open this year. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

The decision by the City of Iqaluit’s recreation department to close its skate park due to a lack of use has irked at least one city councillor.

At Tuesday evening’s council meeting, Coun. Terry Dobbin questioned the recreation department’s right to cancel the skate park without going to council first.

He argued the skate park is a facility, not a city program, so if it’s being closed, that action requires a decision from council.

“It’s not a done deal,” Dobbin said.

He said he wants councillors to have the final say on the skate park’s fate.

The park—fitted with ramps and rails for ambitious young boarders—generally opens in May.

But a recent notice on social media from the city’s recreation department explained that the skate park would not open this year in the curling rink.

That prompted an outcry from avid skateboarders, who then circulated a petition asking for the skate park to remain open: “the skate park is a well-loved venue and allows the kids to enjoy hours of physical activity at low cost,” it stated.

More than 300 signed the petition.

To plead for the park to remain open, Luc Brisebois, whose wife Carine Chalut started the petition, and his three sons were at the city council meeting on Tuesday.

Brisebois suggested, among other things, that the city could do a better job advertising the skatepark to increase its use.

But discussions around the council table also showed why the recreation department wanted to close the skate park.

First, it cost a lot money over the past three years, and $37,000 last year.

Second, it managed to attract only a handful of youth to use the skate park on an average day.

The skate park also takes a lot of time to set up and tear down, about a week at both ends of the season.

Moreover, summer staff workers told their bosses at the recreation department that they didn’t like working at the skate park because they were bored due to the lack of clients.

City staff have suggested that the space previously occupied by the skate park could alternatively be used for activities such as T-ball or mini-golf.

Some at the meeting suggested that the skate park should be moved outdoors in the future.

The debate over the fate of Iqaluit’s skate park will continue this week at a recreation meeting and then will likely head to the city council’s next meeting on June 5.