THE Waterfront will be left with yet another poor-quality structure if the Waterfront Enterprise Board rushes into building a cheap skate park, the president of the Channel Islands Skateboard Association has warned.
Jake Hipwell said that a top-class facility would cost around £250,000, but so far only £125,000 has been pledged towards the project. WEB have offered a site next to the Sailor’s Rest Café on the New North Quay for the ramps, rails and other street skating structures. It is expected that the park will have some sort of roof.
WEB have pledged £100,000 towards the scheme and the youth committee of the Parish of St Helier have promised a further £25,000. However, the parish money will only be made available if a quality structure is built that meets the needs and aspirations of the skateboarders.
Mr Hipwell, who has long campaigned for a skate park to be built, said that he feared that the park would be yet another example of short-term thinking. He warned that a cheap building would not last and so the Island, and skaters, would be back to square one in a number of years. A spokesman from WEB said that they intended to select the best possible design and build the best skate park possible on the budget they had.
• Picture: Skateboarders at the skate park site on the New North Quay. From left: Adrian Tierney, Johnny Le Chevalier, Jake Hipwell, Billy Swinburne, James Carter and Mark Evans
Article posted on 22nd July, 2008 - 2.55pm
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