Construction is expected to start in May on the Kovach Park Skatepark after funding was secured from the City of Revelstoke on Jan. 25.
The Skatepark is a parks and recreation project that has been in the works for over five years, championed by the Columbia Valley Skatepark Association (CVSA).
Mayor Mark McKee praised the local volunteers who made it happen.
“Just like every major project the city undertakes, it takes a dedicated group of volunteers,” said McKee. “The city is there to help, but every project needs and requires a champion.”
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The decision from the city came after a CVSA application for a BC Gaming Capital Grant for the remaining funds required to complete the project — a sum 0f $181,839 — was denied in December.
Following the decision from BC Gaming, Matt Rebelo, the CVSA’s treasurer, wrote to City Council on Jan. 14 requesting $100,000 from the Revelstoke Community Forest Corporation Legacy Fund.
Upon receiving Rebelo’s letter, council agreed to fund the project on Jan. 25 during a committee of the whole budget meeting.
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Though Rebelo requested the funds from the Forest Corporation Legacy fund, the funding will come from the parks and recreation budget, and the city will also be contributing $30,000 of gravel, and has agreed to cover the cost of the demolition of the former skatepark, which is estimated at $23,000.
City Council has also agreed to find an extra $40,000 in its 2018 parks and recreation budget for the project, which would make the total contribution coming out of the parks and rec budget about $218,000.
There will also be about $150,000 coming from a Columbia Basin Trust grant that City Council decided to allocate to the project, and about $250,000 coming from the provincial government in the form of Resort Municipality Initiative funding.
To date, the city has contributed over $618,000 to the project, and the CVSA has raised funds privately over the last five years.
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Though the CVSA has raised over 95 per cent of the funds necessary to complete the project, they are still short of their goal by about $30,000. But the CVSA says it is confident it can raise the roughly $30,000 required to see the project to completion.
“We feel confident we can raise $30,000–$60,000 (and perhaps more) in the coming months,” wrote Rebelo in his letter to City Council on Jan. 14.
The estimated completion date is Oct. 1. 2018.
There will be a fundraiser and silent auction for the CVSA on Feb. 10 at Traverse.