Thunder Bay received  the PRO Award of Excellence in Design for the Marina Skateboard Plaza. TBSC members Pia Erkkila, Chris Bayko, David Vass, and Myles Cizmar accepted the award last month at the ceremony in Niagara Falls

In 2005, the City of Thunder Bay began working with a group of youth interested in improving a neighbourhood-based skateboard park. Back then, six of the city’s seven skateboard parks were designed for more introductory levels of abilities and a small number of participants, and the seventh, more challenging park was deteriorating and out of date. The group formed the Superior Skateboard Coalition (later renamed the Thunder Bay Skateboard Coalition) and with the City’s support, decided instead to spearhead the construction of a new, larger, safer park with elements for skateboarders, BMXers and inline skaters of all levels of ability.

The location selected for the park was Prince Arthur’s Landing at Marina Park, a 40-acre waterfront park that had already been identified as needing extensive revitalization. Following some well-attended public open houses and design workshops that provided critical information and feedback, the hard labour soon commenced, ultimately resulting in a world class skateplaza that integrates function and versatility with a unique design that includes a “Classic California” style pool bowl, three dynamic public art projects, new landscaping, and seamless integration of the conplete development into that surrounding park and trail system. The plaza opened in June 2009 and is now a hub of local youth activity.

http://www.prontario.org
http://tbsc.ca/gallery/?album=5&gallery=5

A group of skaters have been working hard on removing ice and snow from the plaza.  View photos taken on February 28th and March 7th.
http://tbsc.ca/gallery/?album=6&gallery=6

You may have heard that the Grand Opening was postponed by a week to December 19th. The main reason was due to insurance, which is a slow and complicated process, especially for indoor skateparks. We appreciate your patience and support. Also, we’d like to apologize again to the individuals that came to the skatepark today.

Everyone may skate for free on the Grand Opening, but donations will be appreciated. Bring a helmet since there are a limited amount of rentals available.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=206784594488

Thanks to all the volunteers for their hard work.
Please stay tuned for any urgent news

Check out his video http://www.theberrics.com/batcom090725.php

I bet that few pros/ams can land half of the tricks he does in this video.

Don’t forget to watch matches from the Battle at the Berrics 2, http://www.theberrics.com/batb2.php

The Marina Skateboard Plaza Grand Opening was fun yesterday. The weather wasn’t the greatest and it eventually rained after 2PM.  There are some photos on the site now, http://tbsc.ca/gallery or http://tbsc.ca/gallery/?album=5&gallery=5

Check out the sick video posted on SBC. Footage filmed by Damien Gilbert and Chris Johnson.
http://sbcskateboard.com/videos/video:1387/Thunder-Bay-Park-Grand-Opening

I uploaded a short video taken with a Canon PowerShot SD780 camera. There’s about 2 minutes of speeches. Some pool skating by Adam Hopkins and Dakota White. Also a few tricks down the 9 set.
http://www.youtube.com/v/WWQRtG3LKq4

Don’t forget to visit the public TBSC Facebook Fan Page for more updates.

I’ll be adding more photos next week.  Also, don’t forget about the TBSC Apparel Contest that John started.  I just checked the public FB Fan Page, right now it’s between Hopkins and Claire.  It ends June 27, so get those photos in asap.

TBSC apparel is now available at 4Fourteen Skate Shop.  Shirts are $15 (tax incl).  Submit photos of yourself or friends wearing TBSC gear to our Facebook Fan Page.  You’ll be eligible to win a 4Fourteen shop deck.

The Current River mini ramp has been taken down. Kudos to Dave Darcis, David Tranter, and other volunteers for maintaining it.

Photos of the Current River skatepark are now on the site, http://tbsc.ca/gallery/

I’ll be adding photos of the other parks soon.

His style and skills are a combination of Daewon Song, Ed Templeton, and Heath Kirchart. I haven’t seen anyone this talented in a long time.

I’ll be adding more photos to the TBSC site in the next few weeks.  It’s been about a month since I last used Facebook (deactivated), it feels good, get the Facebook monkey off your back. I’m currently working on a dope site for 4Fourteen.

-John Kelly
Chairman
Thunder Bay Skateboard Coalition