Current Projects

Here are just a few projects the Vancouver Skateboard Coalition is working on:

Mount Pleasant Park, 16th Avenue & Ontario Street, Vancouver
Retrofitting unused wading pools into skate spots

This is a pilot project to replace one of the many unused concrete wading pools into small, community sized skate spots. The idea is to use these smaller plots, where concrete has already been poured, and retrofit them into smaller skate spots (as opposed to skateparks, which are much larger), breathing new life into these unused areas of parks. This concept is a very economical way to get smaller, non-destination skate parks into neighbourhoods so that children won’t have to leave their neighbourhood, or have their parents drive them to one of Vancouver’s larger skateparks.

Kensington Park Pool and Skatepark

A community sized pool/skatepark received unanimous approval from the Vancouver Park Board on April 20, 2009 and was officially opened on July 17, 2010. Kensington Park is on Knight Street between 33rd and 37th Avenue, and will be the first skatepark in Vancouver’s Southeast quadrant, which is sorely needing skate facilities. We’re proud to have the Park Board’s full support on this initiative and commitment to keep youth active on the Eastside. This skatepark is part of the skateboard strategy established in 2005 to ensure that skateparks are spread city-wide, and different sizes and degrees of difficulty to please all users.

Leeside Tunnel
Working to make Leeside a permanent memorial youth park

The Vancouver Skateboard Coalition is working to establish Leeside as a city approved youth space. Leeside, once an abandoned tunnel located under the Cassiar Connector in East Vancouver, has existed as user driven space for skateboarders and graffiti artists over the past ten years. It is fundamental that Leeside continues to be developed through this community effort to properly memorialize Lee Matasi and the “do-it-yourself” energy that originally transformed this space. Currently, there are a number of competing demands on the tunnel from the City of Vancouver and ECOMM. We are looking for support to ensure that the space continues to accommodate the needs of the skateboarding and graffiti communities, and is developed in a manner that properly represents Leeside’s memorial function.

Please join our “I Support Leeside Becoming A Permanent Memorial Youth Park” Facebook group to show your support.

Leeside Tunnel Roast Coffee in memory of artist Lee Matasi

In memory of Lee Matasi, artist and skateboarder, 100% of all proceeds from the sale of Leeside Tunnel Roast Custom Espresso Blend Coffee will go to build Leeside Skatepark. Lee Matasi was an aspiring artist and skateboarder who was tragically shot and killed in Gastown in 2005.

Lee’s friends have come together to form the Leeside Stewardship Group. Together they generate funds to finish building what Lee Matasi started, a skatepark in an old abandoned tunnel near the southeast corner of Hastings Park.

Leeside Coffee is now available at Antisocial and SOMA cafe (8th Avenue and Main), The Cedar Cottage Coffee House (1303 Kingsway), Lark Clothing (Main and 8th) and Thriller (Main and 18th).

You can also buy Leeside Coffee at antisocialshop.com.

CHINA CREEK HAS BEEN SAVED

> Save China Creek! You can help – read below and see how

Crucial info on the issues at stake can be found at
www.howardredekopp.com/blog.

Become a friend to China Creek on myspace www.myspace.com/savechinacreek

There is a lot going on regarding China Creek right now. Keep checking back to this site for news. Keep November 18th open! We will make an announcement about what’s going down that day at China Creek very soon.

In the meantime, write a letter to the Parks Board Commissioners pbcomments@vancouver.ca and let them know what you think about Park Planners desire to destroy the skatepark. It doesn’t take long to write an e-mail – go to my blog for ideas. DO IT!

Our Past Successes

Past successes of the Vancouver Skateboard Coalition include the world famous Hastings Skatepark, the Downtown Skate Plaza (the first skate plaza in the world!), Quilchena Park, Coopers Park and Strathcona Park as well as being an integral force in ensuring that the China Creek skatepark was saved during the 2008 park redesign.

The VSBC also worked with Park Board staff and Commissioners to implement the 2005 City of Vancouver Skateboard Strategy which calls for the geographic distribution of skateparks across the city. The VSBC was also successful in legalizing skateboarding in the City of Vancouver, which was a first in North America. Mayor Larry Campbell made that announcement at the Slam City Jam contest to a packed crowd at the PNE Forum, returning dozens of confiscated skateboard to kids that had been wrongfully taken by police.