BARRHEAD - The Town of Barrhead will have a little more room to host the all-wheel park's first anniversary on June 22 from 1 to 4 p.m.
On June 11, Town councillors unanimously approved the parks and recreation department's request to temporarily close a portion of 55A Street between 51st Avenue and 55th Street for the festivities.
The parks and recreation department is still working on finalizing the details for the festivities and has not released a schedule.
However, activities will include demonstrations, skill event competitions (including those for best trick, longest and highest jumps, foot down, among others), face painting, a free hot dog barbeque provided by Freson Bros. and lots of giveaways.
History of Barrhead's all-wheel park
Although multiple councils had discussed the possibility of a new all-wheel park to replace the old facility next to the curling rink for several years, the general public first learned about the potential construction of an all-wheel skate park in early June 2021 when the council announced the municipality would be partnering with the Barrhead CARES Coalition to create a survey asking residents about the features they would like to see in a park.
Two weeks later, they selected the park's location: a municipally owned property near the old Champion Feeds building on the east side of 50th Avenue between 55 A Street and 56 Street south of Highway 18.
In late January 2022, the council selected New Line Skateparks to design and build the park. In March, they held a public information session that included staff from Newline Skateparks, and in late April, council approved the final design. In mid-June, the council hosted the official groundbreaking ceremony, and approximately a year later, the town held its official grand opening ceremony on June 23.
The all-wheel park received initial funding through a Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) grant. Council originally capped the budget at $800,000, but in July 2022, councillors approved an additional $49,000. The additional funds were required to cover cost overruns due to extra groundwork because the property was formerly a CPR railway site.
In June 2023, the town hosted the park’s grand opening.
