Alberta skate parks get second chance

An Alberta indoor skate park has been given a second chance by the community after owners say the province’s warm winter nearly closed their doors.

“Normally, it’s cold and snowy by mid-October and we’re able to roll into our peak season — but we’re having this crazy-warm weather, and rather than it getting better — our slow season stayed the same I guess,” said Bevan Purnell, the owner of House of Wheels.

Purnell owns this indoor skate park in south Edmonton, as well as a location in Calgary. Telling me while the warm winter has kept more people outdoors — they’re paying $26,000 a month to rent this facility — the increasing cost of everything making it tough to operate.

“It can be $5,000 or more a month just to heat the place and so all those things are coming into play,” said Purnell.

Faced with closing the skate park, Purnell and owners turned to the skateboard community, through online fundraising and a number of initiatives — House of Wheels raised over $55,000, which Purnell says is enough to keep both Edmonton and Calgary locations open and get over the warm winter.

“We had a pack the park campaign — if this place is full of people paying to ride — then we can pay rent. We also did a clothing pre-order, bottled drive, silent auction, we hosted a live music show which was absolutely phenomenal,” said Purnell.

That gives the next generation of skaters and BMX riders a place to practice.

“It was just amazing to see the community value what we have here, and it’s really inspired me to push a little harder and go that extra mile to make sure we’re keeping this place going long-term.”