Harrow Skatepark saved for 'foreseeable future' as council invests £50,000 (From Harrow Times)

Harrow Skatepark saved for 'foreseeable future' as council invests £50,000

3:50pm Wednesday 10th March 2010

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A SKATEPARK threatened with closure will be safe “for the foreseeable future” as £50,000 of investment is pumped in.

Harrow Skatepark, which holds a proud place in the sports history, was once set to be bulldozed to make way for a replacement for Harrow Leisure Centre.

But the scheme was torpedoed last year by a collapse in housing projects needed to fund the scheme and one year on Harrow Council is no closer to resurrecting the proposals.

The authority has even set aside £50,000 for two new 20ft “spine” ramps and a mini ramp which will be built over the freestyle area.

Fergus Sheppard, a spokesman for the council, said the site would be safe for the “foreseeable future” but added: “We keep watching the property market for signs of improvement and potential buyers.”

Robert Adler, chairman of Harrow Skatepark Users' Group, said: “This is brilliant news. No one wants the skatepark to go.

“There isn't one roller skater, skateboarder or biker who wants to see Harrow Skatepark go. The first and only thing we wanted to do was to keep it.”

The council first announced its plans to build over the site in November, 2007, but uses of the park slammed the leisure centre project as an attack on their cultural heritage and fought a bitter battle to save it.

The handmade concrete ramps and bowls that fill the facility, in Byron Park, date back to the 1970s and Harrow is one of the last few in Britain built in the same way.

The users' group at one stage even won the backing of US skateboarding star Tony Hawk, who said if it was genuinely “irreplaceable”, as the group suggested, then it should stay.

James Hitchcox, a professional BMX rider, said: “A lot of skateparks now are built to a kit formula and are very similar.

“The one in Harrow is unique because it was hand sculpted. That makes it much more challenging to users as the surface is very individual and you really have to know it by riding it.

“The new ramps will be a great new addition and the skating community are really looking forward to them going up.”

Councillor Susan Hall, responsible for environment services, said: “Harrow Council has worked with the skateboard enthusiasts and local community to fund and help devise a really imaginative new layout.

“I can't promise to jump the ramps myself but will certainly be going down to watch the airborne acrobatics at first hand.”

For a video of the campaign to save the skatepark click the link below.

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