More than 250 people are calling on the City of New Westminster to install lights at the Queen’s Park skate park.
Brian Cunningham said the local skateboard park is one of the best in the Lower Mainland, but it isn’t living up to its full potential because it doesn’t have lights allowing for nighttime use. The Port Coquitlam dad is among the more than 250 people who have signed an online petition on change.org calling for lights to be installed at the Queen’s Park skate.
“When winter comes, we can't use the park,” he said. “Basically, at four o'clock, you have to go home.”
Cunningham said he’s contacted the city about the issue a number of times, receiving a variety of responses as to why there are no lights at the skateboard park.
“We have heard everything from ‘the other sports pay for the lights’ to ‘there will be too many shadows in the bowl.’ Other skate parks in the Lower Mainland have lights, no problems,” he said. “The tennis court just got lights. This park is one of the best in the Lower Mainland, and can't be used to its full potential.”
With skateboarding now an Olympic event, Cunningham believes the city should be doing more to support the sport.
Although he lives in Port Coquitlam, Cunningham said he’s been bringing his son, who is now nine, to the facility for the past three years. Like his son, he said other skateboarders have said they’d welcome the opportunity to use the facility at night.
“It would be ideal,” he said.
The Queen’s Park skate park opened in early 2019, after the facility in Mercer Stadium had to be demolished to make way for construction of the new high school.
Dean Gibson, the city’s director of parks and recreation, said lighting was among a number of “value add” items raised during the public engagement sessions leading up to the final design of the skate park.
“Ultimately, not all wishes for the skate park could be accommodated within the available project budget,” he said.
Asked if there any particular issues that would make it challenging to install lights near the skateboard park, Gibson said a technical assessment by lighting engineers would be required to determine the ultimate feasibility of installing lights at this site, before he could provide a fulsome response.
“Notionally, the most significant challenge is likely related to the adequacy of the electrical supply to this area of the park,” he said in an email to the Record. “Project funding is also an important consideration, as lighting requirements for sport surfaces typically requires specialty systems that come as a cost premium as compared to conventional street lighting.”
For the past few years, the parks and recreation department has been prioritizing the maintenance and renewal of existing aging parks infrastructure as a priority over introducing additional new features into parks, Gibson said.
Gibson said the parks and recreation department has received some inquiries regarding lighting at the Queen’s Park skate park.
“Inquiries and comments to our department have been infrequent,” he said. “Those who have expressed an interest in this issue are quite passionate about the topic. Interest has been expressed by both residents and visitors to our community.”
Lighting was recently installed at the tennis courts in Queen’s Park.
“The ‘new’ lights at the tennis courts in Queen’s Park are actually the re-purposed field lights from the recently decommissioned all-weather (gravel) field adjacent to the former Canada Games Pool,” Gibson said. “These lights were suitable for the lighting levels required for a facility the size of the tennis courts and has enabled the city to increase the capacity of the courts by extending usage into the evening hours. Needs for additional capacity have largely been driven by the rapid increase in popularity of the sport of pickleball, which in New Westminster shares outdoor court space with tennis.”
Input opportunity
As the community emerges out of COVID, Gibson said a number of desired park infrastructure enhancements have been identified by local residents and organizations.
“Recognizing that not everything can be done all at once, the parks and recreation department is encouraging residents to participate in the upcoming comprehensive planning work for parks and recreation services and facilities in New Westminster. This planning work will help to establish parks and recreation infrastructure, facilities and services needs and relative priorities for the next 10 to 15 years,” he said. “It is anticipated this work will commence in the spring of this year and will be widely promoted through all conventional city communication channels.”
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