Halfpipe dreams: Ottawa skateboarders eye indoor park

With skateboarding coming to the 2020 Olympic Games, some Ottawa skaters think the time is right for an indoor skatepark in the city.

Born and raised in Ottawa, skateboarder Sam Kardash said it would give a place for potential Olympians to practise in the winter.

"It's like playing guitar," he said.

"If you would go six months without playing guitar, your skills would not be the same."

Currently, many skateboarders who want to practise in the winter retreat to underground parking lots, where their options are limited and they sometimes get in trouble with security, Kardash said.

"You're basically just keeping up your skills doing flat ground tricks," he said.

Giving youth a place to hone their craft will also help keep them out of trouble and away from drugs, he added. 

"It's helped me so much in my life: keeping me in good shape, providing me with a community, friends, helping me through hard times [like] the death of my father. I went through a divorce, I'm a single parent," he said.

"So skateboarding has been my rock, my salvation in many ways. It's always there for me." 

Ottawa skaters flocking to Montreal

As the sun was setting Tuesday afternoon, Kyle Mander, 20, was skateboarding with his friends at a popular spot near Lyon and Sparks streets in downtown Ottawa. 

He said he and his friends often drive to Brossard in the Montreal area to access a popular indoor skateboard park. 

"It's what we've got to do to skate," he said. 

"It's a good business. There's a lot of skaters in this town that would benefit from it and pay $5 every time, or whatever the price, just to skate."

Proposal to the city

Ideally, an indoor park would have obstacles and ramps that would allow skaters to practise more than just basic skills.

With skateboarding on the horizon for the 2020 Games, Kardash said an indoor park could help get some young talent to Tokyo. 

"We've always been the underdog, but now we find ourselves pushed into the limelight and we need proper training facilities to send kids to the Olympics," he said. 

"It's going to be great to watch on TV. It's going to bring an excitement to the Olympic Games in 2020, the same excitement that snowboarding brings." 

While Kardash said he hasn't received any commitments from the city to fund a park, he said there are signs that skateboarding's prestige is growing in Ottawa — though its Olympic inclusion isn't universally popular.

He plans to write a proposal to the city to get help with funding and insurance, and work for a private skateboard park in case the city decides not to pursue it.