Skatepark Funding Approved!

Breaking news from tonight's City Council meeting - the funding for Welland's new skatepark has been approved!

According to Allan Benner, who is on the scene, Councillors carried a motion to apply for the second round of federal government funding offered on Canada's 150th anniversary. The government is giving out millions of dollars in funding for public projects of all sorts. The same idea was utilized during Canada's centennial in 1967 - that wave of projects gave us Welland Centennial Secondary School, among other things. 

If the Federal funding ($216,000) is not approved, Treasurer Steve Zorbas promised the remainder ($433,000) will still be included in our 2017 municipal budget. He said that building a new skatepark was considered "a high priority" for Welland. 

Though the motion passed, not all of the Councillors were in favor. Ward 4 Councillor Tony DiMarco said there was "no way (he) could support" the idea. He questioned why Welland would use the money for a new skatepark when we have roads in need of repair. (I'd say because potholes don't kill people, but rusted and jagged skateboard equipment can, but that's only my opinion.) DiMarco did state that he might be able to get on board if he had "positive feedback from the community." I leave that one up to my readers.

Councillor Pat Chiocchio, also of Ward 4, said he was in favour of the idea, but felt it needed further discussion. He added that the current facility is "disastrous" and questioned who would be responsible if someone were injured while using it. (Unless there are signs stating otherwise, I'd assume the answer is the City.)

Mayor Frank Campion said that Gary Long, Welland's Chief Administrative Officer, would work on finding a good location for the new skatepark, which will then be discussed by the council. He (Campion) believes that a better location than the current one would be beneficial.

As someone who has been involved with the skatepark project for 2 years now, I can say it's quite likely that we will be approved for the federal funding in this round. Even if not, the improvement we could make with municipal funding alone would be massive. This could finally be the end of the MYAC's seemingly endless struggle to make headway on the skatepark issue. Welland's youth community might finally have a skateboard park we can be proud of, putting us on the same level as Port Colborne, Dunnville, and other nearby communities. It might be a few years later than some of us would have liked, but it's great news for Welland. Now all we have to do is wait and see how it plays out...