Northeast Calgary's first skatepark open for business

It's been a long time coming but northeast Calgary now finally has its own skatepark.

The community park has been under construction all summer at the Genesis Centre in Martindale. 

The facility will give existing skaters, along with kids and adults who want to try it for the first time, a place of their own to practice tricks and carve around the new concrete park.

"It's amazing, we've been waiting forever to have a park in the neighbourhood," said local skater Tommy Chan.

"Having something like this that's super close to get to is the best," said Chan.

"You can work out at the Genesis Centre then come skate. Everything's usually downtown or in the southwest or the northwest, so this is great," Chan said.

The new park will be the tenth permanent City of Calgary facility, along with privately run indoor parks like The Park and The Compound. 

"It's so exciting. I've lived in the northeast my whole life and we've never had a skatepark," said another local skater, Tony Chan. "The closest one that we enjoyed was Airdrie and now we have this which is only a five minute skate from my place."

"There are obstacles for everyone and good sizes," Chan said.

The northeast was the last quadrant in the city to get a skatepark. 

"I almost felt like the northeast kind of got neglected. The southwest was getting all these parks and the northwest and now finally the northeast. I'm glad there's a park in the northeast now and I hope it's not the last one," said Chan.

Earlier this summer the Genesis Centre hosted a series of skate camps in anticipation of the park opening.

The program, a partnership between the Girls and Boys Club and the Calgary Association of Skateboarding Enthusiasts, taught local kids the basics of balance and safety along with turning, stopping and some basic tricks.

Each participant received a board and helmet.

While the new park is open for business, the official grand opening event doesn't take place until September 7.