Additional $1.8m to Newland park skatepark construction in Alice Springs brings project total to $7.6m
The Red Centre could have ‘one of the finest contemporary skateparks and youth facilities in the country’ – but only if the right builder is chosen. Find out why.
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An additional $1.8 million to build a skatepark in the Red Centre capital could deliver “one of the finest contemporary skateparks and youth facilities in the country” – if they get the right builder, an advocate for the park says.
The additional $1.8m brings the total budget for the Newland Park play precinct and skatepark and youth facility to $7.6m.
Previously, $4m has been invested by the federal government and another $1.8m put forward by council.
To Rolling All Directions chair Greg Barnes, the $7.6m “can be pulled together to actually build one of the finest youth facilities in the country, which would therefore be one of the best in the world”.
“Living remotely and the challenges that we face in terms of equipment and materials and such can definitely blow budgets on projects,” he said.
“So this extra injection should definitely allow for design that the community and our incorporated association around the skatepark campaign, RAD (Rolling All Directions) has been working towards and hoping for.”
Through petitions and workshops, Mr Barnes’ association has been campaigning to get Alice Springs a new skatepark for the past five years, and wants to make sure the project is built up to standard.
“The most crucial factor at this stage now with funding is that the company hired to build the skatepark and youth facility are professional skatepark builders,” he said.
“There’s too many examples of beautiful projects which have been designed and not been built by professional skatepark builders which have then needed to be rebuilt.”
Mr Barnes said he’d recently travelled to the University of Sydney as part of an Art Play Risk symposium with Spinifex Skateboards founder Nicki Hayes to talk about the importance of skateparks, the positive effect they have on children, and building them right.
“Nikki and I were both asked to speak as specialists on that, to discuss the need for more of that type of infrastructure across the board in Australia, to allow young people to really express themselves creatively and physically,” he said.
“Skateboarding, BMX riding, you know, roller skating, anything with wheels where you can creatively express yourself is proven to have a really, really positive effect, both pro-social and for mental health and physical health.”
Alice Springs Mayor Matt Paterson said the project was “ready to go” and the tender “can be awarded within a matter of days”.
“This will be awarded in the next couple of weeks, because there’s been a lot of work that’s gone into this,” he said.
“This has been a project that has been consulted far and wide with the community and this has been designed by kids for kids and everyone’s going to benefit.”
Since 2018 Mr Paterson has advocated for a new skatepark for Alice Springs.
“This is just another piece of liveability and peice of amenity for the community,” he said.
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