Skateboarders continue to call for new home in Cambridge

Community-minded skateboarders in Cambridge are hoping to carve out a safer space to practice in Hespeler.

A group known as Hespeler Needs A Skatepark has been hosting events throughout the summer to help grind out support to build a skatepark closer to home, a cause they’ve been championing for years.

“It helps communities grow. It helps kids learn. It helps bring people together,” Hespeler Needs a Skatepark member Ian Cools told CTV News on Aug. 31 during the group’s last jam event of the season.

Cools said it can be hard for many kids in the area to get to a skatepark because there is no direct public transit link, leaving some of them to learn their skills on the road.

“You’re not allowed to be skateboarding on the streets and [it’s] not allowed in a lot of parking lots. So in Hespeler there is no place where kids can skate legally,” Cools said.

Skateboard enthusiast Derek Pigozzo has been passing down his skills to his children. He says he remembers a time when he would skateboard on public streets because there was nowhere else to go.

“It’s much better if we have a place that’s actually designed and built for people to skateboard on,” Pigozzo said.

“There are just a lot more hazards. Every crack in a sidewalk can be deadly – you could fall on your face. Every crack on a sidewalk is a potential fall. I’ve done it!”