Jesse Winter, Centretown News
A skateboarder practises his moves at the Charlie Bowins Skate Park in Centretown.As the weather begins to cool, there can be no doubt summer has ended. For one of Ottawa’s newest recreational facilities, this summer has been a huge success.
Charlie Bowins Skate Park, named in honour of the local skateboarder and community leader, opened in July as a part of the newly renovated McNabb Park. And by all accounts, the facility has been in almost non-stop use ever since.
Bowins, 27, died suddenly in his sleep on March 3 after returning home from a trip to Hawaii. He was known in the community as a role model for the kids he taught as a summer camp councillor at McNabb Park.
The steady stream of skateboarders at the Centretown hub is one of the strongest pieces of evidence suggesting its success, says Meag Isaacs, an executive committee member of the Ottawa Skateboarding Community Association, which raised funds over more than two years to make the park a reality.
“You can go to the park at any time and it’s full of people using the facility. You don’t really see that with too many other park facilities downtown,” she says. “There’s empty ball fields, there’s empty soccer fields and yet, when you invest in a skate park, it’s used all the time.”
The skate park, on the corner of Bronson and Gladstone, is the first in the city’s downtown core which was designed with feedback from the city’s thriving skateboarding community.
Its smooth concrete ramps have been laid out to maximise skaters’ ability to string together multiple tricks.
“Before OSCA took on more of a role with the city, parks were being built without having skaters in mind,” says Isaacs. “Without consulting with skaters, these parks that the city spent tons and tons of money on weren’t being used and, to some extent, were actually almost dangerous.”
But that all changed with “Charlie Park,” says Isaacs.
“With Charlie Park, we had incredible support from our ward councillor, Catherine McKenney. I mean that was pretty unprecedented. A lot of councillors try to stay out of those politics because of those negative connotations associated with skate boarding, but Coun. McKenney was awesome throughout the process.”
A proper design with the support of the Ottawa skateboarding community has made Charlie Park the go-to meeting spot for skaters across the city, says Aaron Cayer. His Antique Skate Shop is five blocks east of McNabb Park, on Florence. He founded the charity that Bowins volunteered for, For Pivots Sake.
For Pivots Sake takes used skateboards and equipment traded in to Antique Skate Shop and donates them to youth wanting to get into the sport, but are unable to afford the gear.
“Ottawa has always lacked a meet-up spot for skateboarders,” says Cayer. “Having a local meet-up spot, like the Charlie Bowins skateboard park, has had a number of positive effects on our skateboard community. It helps bring people and different groups together.”
The increased attention skateboarding has received thanks to Charlie Park has had a direct effect on the success of For Pivots Sake, which has been able to help kids from as far away as Iqaluit and Ethiopia who are looking to learn skateboarding.
The park has also brought more attention to the benefits a thriving skateboarding community can have on a city, says Isaacs.