If you build it, they will come—even to the planning meeting.
Up to 200 people packed the Memorial Sports Centre auditorium Wednesday night to discuss design ideas for a proposed skateboard park, scheduled to be built on the old arena ball diamond.
Darren Brown, promotions director for the project, said the crowd was “beyond my wildest dreams.”
“I thought maybe we’d get 20-30 people out,” Brown said after the meeting. “But we’ve got at least 30 people already who want to be on the project committee.
“The idea of the meeting was to build momentum for the project. But the momentum’s already there,” he added.
Brown said the feedback received from young skateboarding enthusiasts at last night’s meeting is critical to making the park a successful venture.
“We want to use their ideas,” he stressed. “There’s no point raising the money and building the park if nobody ends up using it because it’s not what they like.”
Brown estimated the project will cost $300,000, with $20,000 of that already raised.
“We hope to get all three levels of government involved,” he said. “[Local MP] Robert Nault already has expressed support, and I’m sure [Fort Frances mayor] Glenn Witherspoon will be right in there as well to help.”
A date for the next project meeting had not been set.
