Home Turf, Finally

Since the inception of New Line Skateparks Inc., the company has helped produce over 110 parks in municipalities around the world. Consider it a selfless act, or merely catching the short end of the politic-stick, but Kyle Dion—Director of Skatepark Development for New Line—finally got a park done in his hometown and home base in BC.

“Essentially, Maple Ridge is the last municipality in the Lower Mainland to get an outdoor skatepark. We’ve been lobbying council before I even had anything to do with skatepark building and advocacy,” he says. “So, around 15 years ago, in Grade 9, we started fundraising, going to council meetings, and started to get a committee together. It’s been an ongoing battle.”

Jordan Hoffart was born and raised in “The Ridge,” and has been making his mark with Powell skateboards during his extended stays down in Huntington Beach. He was also involved in the lengthy process of getting this park done.

“The plans for the Maple Ridge park actually started when I was 12 years old. Kyle Dion and myself were part of the Maple Ridge skatepark committee. This was when Kyle started his career building ramps for the Neutral Zone, a temporary skatepark open during the summer months to give kids some place to go in the city,” Hoffart explains. “It’s crazy to think my career and Kyle’s started right there, together, in a converted ice rink that was just a sweat box. Since then, he’s been perfecting the formula of skateboard parks, traveling all over the world, signing contract after contract—I’ve been doing my best to try and keep up by skating as many as I can.”

Fast Times at T.H. High
An interesting dynamic of the Maple Ridge park is the fact that it’s located a stone’s throw away from Thomas Haney Secondary, a large high-school. This means, for the free-birds out there, you want to avoid hitting the park until 1pm during the school season; the kids like to use it as a lunch-room, which means you have to keep an eye out for potential ketchup packet explosions when you’re skating after the final lunch bell. Also, après 3:00pm during the school year will be busy, along with the weekends. Having the park on school grounds actually created unique challenges and opportunities for both New Line and the local community.

“We had to work closely with the school district to make everything happen. There were a lot of concerns with people from other schools, or people that don’t go to school, coming on school property to skate. So we had to deal with a whole set of issues that we typically don’t have to deal with,” says Dion. “They’re starting this whole mentorship leadership program in partnership with the city and the school. They’re going to take a bunch of older kids at the school and put them through an 8-week course where they’re going to learn things like skatepark etiquette, first aid, and non-violent crisis intervention. Then these kids will mentor younger students so there’ll be all these generations of ‘skatepark leaders’ that are looking after the park.”

“The high-school has totally embraced the park, and next year the Vice Principal wants to work towards putting a curriculum together that has an actual skateboarding class students can take and get credit for,” Dion adds. “So, you might learn about skateboard history, skateboard media, park building and stuff like that. They’re also looking at including skateboarding as part of the Physical Education program at the school.”

Fact Sheet
-The Maple Ridge park is 18,000 square feet (15,000 plaza style, 3000 bowl).

-Street details include a number of obstacles such as tight brick QPs, a slappy wall (similar to the Van Plaza), a 3-sided brick pyramid, granite hubbas, ledges, a big 3, bank-to-barrier, pole jam, and of course the popular “moustache ride.”

-The bowl is 5 feet deep with a 6-foot extension and a 7-foot pocket. It has a couple hips, and a unique tile detail under the coping.

Opening Day session at Maple Ridge skatepark.