An unidentified longboarder on a run down the 350 metre track at the new Kamloops Longboard Park on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014.
(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)
October 18, 2014 - 1:44 PM
KAMLOOPS – The official grand opening of the Kamloops Longboarding Park was packed with riders Saturday.
The Kamloops Longboarding Club held a Slide Jam to mark the park’s opening in the Aberdeen neighbourhood above Pacific Way Elementary School.
The park cost property taxpayers $160,000 and was built about a year behind schedule.
The off-road track is the first of its kind and is drawing attention from all over Canada and as far away as Asia and Australia, according to a media release from the City of Kamloops.
Along with the 350 metres of downhill track, the city has included a grassy area, picnic table, a pit toilet, a drinking fountain, benches, trees and garbage cans. There’s even a bus stop nearby.
"After working closely with the local longboarding club over the past several months, we are excited to be the first municipality to provide an off-road longboarding track for riders to practice their skills in an automobile-free environment," Michael Doll with the City says.
The park is a better option than city streets for the longboards. RCMP have warned in the past they face fines of up to $2,000 for boarding in restricted areas of the city.
Most of the longboarders in attendance at the Kamloops Longboarding Track grand opening on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014 stopped for a selfie before hitting the downhill track.
(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)
The Kamloops Longboard Park was very busy Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014 for the official grand opening Slide Jam.
(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)
To contact the reporter for this story, email Howard Alexander at halexander@infonews.ca or call 250-491-0331. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014