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Press Release - November 12, 2009
 (From left to right) Kerry Campbell, Brandon Mayor Dave Burgess, Brandon-Souris MP Merv Tweed, Brandon East MLA Drew Caldwell and project co-ordinator Marlow Kirton dig in at the groundbreaking of the Kristopher Campbell Memorial Skateboard Plaza at the corner of Ninth Street and Princess Avenue on Tuesday. (James O’Connor/Brandon Sun)
FUNDING BREAKDOWN |
- The federal and provincial governments each contributed $350,000 to the project through the Building Canada infrastructure fund.
- The City of Brandon provided $125,000 of funding in the project’s early stages, in addition to a previous contribution of $5,000 for a feasibility study and the donation of the land on which the park will be built.
- Renaissance Brandon recently handed the project $75,000 in funding.
- C & C Construction Co. Ltd. donated $75,000 of in-kind services in exchange for naming rights to the park,which will bear the name of the late Kristopher Campbell.
- The remainder of the $1.05-million price tag is expected to be covered by various community and corporate fundraising efforts.
» Brandon Sun |
With the flick of five, very well-used skateboard decks, work on the Kristopher Campbell Memorial Skateboard Plaza in downtown Brandon was kick-started at an official groundbreaking ceremony earlier this week. Project manager Marlow Kirton and local construction company owner Kerry Campbell — the father of the plaza’s namesake — were joined by Brandon Mayor Dave Burgess, Brandon East NDP MLA Drew Caldwell and Brandon-Souris MP Merv Tweed in using skateboards to fling the first scoops of gravel at the $1.05- million park’s Ninth Street and Princess Avenue site on Tuesday morning. It’s a day that has been five and a half years in the making and serves as “the toehold for the rejuvenation of the downtown,” Kirton said. “In as much as the project started out as a skateboard development ... the longer we spent on the project, the more we realized that there was far more to it for us as a community,” he said. “There’s going to be an influence on some of the empty storefronts around here, the park next door, the seniors complexes around here. It works perfectly with the YMCA redevelopment ... so, some very, very interesting things can happen.” Campbell, whose construction business, C & C Construction Co. Ltd., will put up $75,000 of in-kind services to help build the park, said he’s absolutely amazed at the calibre of skate park Brandon will be able to boast upon completion. “I’m blown away, after seeing the design,” he said. “It’s going to be a really, really big benefit to downtown Brandon and (it gives) kids in Brandon a recreation spot. It’s just perfect.” Preparatory work on the site — which was once the home of the Prince Edward Hotel — will take place over the winter months, with construction on the project set to begin May 1, 2010. Completion of the park is expected by late July. And though local skate shop owner and skateboarding enthusiast Jordan Ross admits that this week’s groundbreaking marks the end of several years of planning, lobbying and fundraising, it’s next summer’s grand opening that the city’s skateboarding community is truly looking forward to. “It gives us time (to plan) for a really big launch,” he said. “I think people don’t realize the scale of this thing. It’s going to be one of the best in the country and that’s why it’s taken so long.We’re doing it properly.”
» adowd@brandonsun.com
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