Skateboarders of all ages gathered at the expanded skatepark in Peterborough’s Bonnerworth Park at 560 McDonnel Street on Saturday (May 16) to kick off the summer skating season.
The Peterborough Skateboard Coalition partnered with the City of Peterborough for the day-long celebration on the Victoria Day long weekend, which included skateboarding demonstrations and lessons along with music and a fundraising BBQ.
The celebration began with an open skate session, where attendees learned about the expanded skatepark’s new features and the vision and design behind the park, including elements inspired by the Peterborough Lift Lock.
Designed by Canada Ramp Company and built by Canada’s Drop-in Skateparks, the expansion is attached to the original 8,400-square-foot skatepark constructed in 2002, doubling the total size of the skatepark to 17,000 square feet.
Open daily from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. from May to November (with lights on starting at 7 p.m.), the expanded skatepark now features a total of 42 ramps, with new additions including four rails (flats, round, and rainbow), multiple ledges with square steel pipe edging, and a quarter pipe ramp with coping.
The skatepark also has a bank ramp, rainbow hubba ledge, bank-to-bank section, grind boxes with many pads and toe extensions, a pagoda ledge/grind box, kickers, a long quarter pipe, a rounded corner bank ramp, a corner quarter pipe, and a small quarter pipe.
Saturday’s event also featured free tips and pointers from Coy’s School of Skate, a professional demonstration by the 66 Thieves Skate Team, and free skate and jam sessions for skaters of all skill levels, with chances to win prizes for best tricks on select obstacles donated by 66 Thieves, Flavour Fashion, and Drop-in Skateparks.
The Lions Club hosted a barbecue lunch to raise funds for new equipment for the enhanced playground at Kawartha Heights Park.
Part of the city’s $4.4-million redevelopment project for Bonnerworth Park, which also includes an asphalt bike pump track and 14 pickleball courts, the expanded skatepark opened last July, with an official grand opening celebration of the entire redeveloped park held last November.
The expanded skatepark was a vision of the Peterborough Skateboard Coalition, a not-for profit charity co-founded in 2023 by Dan Post and Geoff Rix, which advocated for the expansion to better serve Peterborough’s growing skateboard community.
“More accessible to all skill levels and with plenty of room to breathe, the layout features inventive obstacles and a cruisy flow that creates endless possibilities,” reads a statement on the Peterborough Skateboard Coalition’s website. “And as an added bonus, the asphalt pump track next door helps alleviate scooter and BMX congestion.”
Photographer Mike Quigg, who is himself a skater, attended Saturday’s event and shared some of his photos with kawarthaNOW, a few of which are included below.
