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"The dream is finally coming true"
That quotation in the heading to this editorial is taken directly from a letter sent to the Cosmos by one Adrian Giacca. The dream he is talking about is the proposed new Uxbridge skateboard park.
Adrian - he's a 19-year-old student at Fanshawe College, where he is studying landscape design - is the young man who has created the proposed design for the new facility, which can be seen on Page 9 of this issue. It actually looks better in colour and led Mayor Gerri-Lynn O'Connor to describe it as "impressive".
Frankly, we at the Cosmos are not surprised. In our lives away from the newspaper, we are constantly involved and interacting with young people and we never cease to be amazed and inspired by the talent, energy and commitment they bring to their community.
It would have been understandable if Adrian, a skateboarder since he was, as he puts it, a young buck, had merely concentrated on the wants and needs of the skateboarders, giving them bowls, ramps, half-pipes, railings and the like. But he has done much more than that: he has also taken the needs of the community at large into consideration. As he said in his letter: "Our biggest design challenge was to address not only the users of the park, but the community and spectators as a whole." To be sure, he probably had input from the adult members of the skateboard park committee and from councillors Jacob Mantle and Gord Highet, but he has taken it all and incorporated it into a thing of beauty. If the park is built according to his design, it will be something of which Uxbridge can be proud.
On the safety and security issue - (for some reason, the police always want skateboard parks to be where they can easily be watched) - Adrian's circular design allows for, in his words, maximum surveillance from all sides.
But he goes even further. For those of us who have never been on a board but love to watch the skaters do their impossible stunts, he has incorporated viewing areas, where we can sit at ease, in the shade, and even enjoy a picnic. Not surprisingly for a student of landscaping, his plan includes a call for deciduous and evergreen trees, planters and grass, with picnic tables nestled in between. As his letter further states, this park will be attractive, functional and appealing to all users and promote physical activity in our community.
But - and there is always a but - there could be a fly in the ointment. With a location at the arena not a possibility, the skateboard park committee has opted for Herrema Fields as the best location and Adrian's design reflects that preference. However, Mayor O'Connor and other members of council seem adamant that the park must be constructed at the Kennedy House grounds. After all, they say, that will be the future hub of recreational activity in Uxbridge. When members of the committee pointed out there is no sidewalk to Kennedy House, the mayor said a sidewalk will be built in the future.
That would be an added cost, whereas there are already sidewalks leading to Herrema Fields. And Herrema is also a lot closer to most of the skateboarders than Kennedy House. In fact, it's less than two minutes away from both the secondary school and Joseph Gould Public School, which would allow skaters attending those two institutions easy access after the school day. Not only that, but Adrian's design calls for pathways leading onto the trail system. The trail system does not yet connect with Kennedy House.
Having seen the concept plans for Kennedy House, if Adrian's skateboard park is built there, it would necessarily have to be butted up against the planned community centre, detracting substantially from the elegance and beauty of the design. We at the Cosmos strongly urge council to listen, for once, to the voice of our youth and put the park where they want it: in Herrema Fields.
