A Calgary skateboarder takes a run at the Morinville skate park. Legal Town Council and the town’s youth committee are currently looking for funding to build their own park. - Stephen Dafoe Photo

Legal – A long-talked about skate park for Legal’s youth is far from dead in the water. Legal Town Council resolved at its Sept. 7 regular meeting to commit $100,000 towards the project and to seek matching grant money to build the facility.

Last year council had promised the Legal Youth Committee that it would match dollars on a Community Facility Enhancement Program (CFEP) grant applied for through the province. However, the application was rejected in mid-July on the grounds that funding requests in the region outpaced funds available through the program.

After hearing at its Aug. 16 regular meeting that the Youth Committee was still prepared to invest the $5,000 they have raised to date towards the project, council remained committed to seeing the project become reality. The Sept. 7 resolution puts a formal face to that commitment, something Mayor Albert St. Jean felt was important to communicate to Legal’s youth.

“I think the feeling from the youth is that they’re scared that we’re not going to keep going with it because we didn’t get the grant,” St. Jean said, adding that this was not the case.

Estimates for a full skate park facility come in at more than $200,000, which would require Legal to get matching grant money if the full facility is to be built. However, council has not ruled out the possibility of starting with a smaller facility if their grant application is unsuccessful a second time, expanding the skate park as funds become available.

But even a simple starter park will require a large expenditure of funding. The proposed location for the park was built over a swimming pool and will require $50,000 to $60,000 in preparation work to create a base for the park.

The next deadline for CFEP grant applications is Sept. 30 and administration is hoping to get a new set of estimates to be able to put a proposal together in time.

Legal’s $100,000 will be made up of $75,000 in cash plus an additional $25,000 in labour. The Youth Committee’s $5,000 will be added to Legal’s allotment, allowing the Town to seek $105,000 in funding through the CFEP grant.