Council to kick off review into Esplanade Skate Park
The Esplanade’s skate park has a reputation for being ‘intimidating’ but plans to modernise it include making parts of it smoother and easier for beginners. Have your say in the comments section.
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An internationally acclaimed skate park builder has been hired to work out how to modernise the iconic Esplanade Skate Park in the heart of Cairns.
But it won’t be done without a review, including a survey, of the 16-year-old concrete playground.
The Convic Skate Park's design picked up a slew of awards, including the 2008 Australian Institute of Landscape Architects Design Award.
Cairns Regional Council has now gone back to the acclaimed park builder for the review.
Ryan Janda of Groms Skate Coaching has been brought on-board to help shape the future of what he described as the heartbeat of the Cairns skating community.
“In a nutshell what I’m really hoping to achieve is a multidisciplinary action sports facility that’s capable of catering to a range of skill sets of park users in a way that (the park) can be used for competition skateboarding and really getting cairns on the map,” Mr Janda said.
“The Cairns Esplanade is an iconic park for locals and the skateboarding community, but it has a reputation for being an advanced and intimidating park.
“Should the park feature a section to allow for the beginner and the advanced? Absolutely. These facilities need to be all inclusive.”
He said obstacles geared specifically toward scooter and bike riders should also be included.
Convic Skate Parks has created 800 community spaces across the world, including in Dubai, and most recently won an urban design landscape architecture award for the Glebe Skate Plaza in NSW.
While $750,000 in council’s 2023/2024 budget has been earmarked for renewal and upgrade of the Redlynch Skate Park, 10km from Cairns, it’s understood no funds have yet been allocated for the Esplanade Skate Park precinct upgrade.
Council will run a drop-in design workshop at the Cairns Esplanade park on Thursday from 2.30pm to 4pm, while a second session will run from 5.30pm to 6.30pm at the council administration centre on Spence St.
Skaters, BMXers and scooter riders are invited to come along to let council know what’s wanted at the huge 2300 sq m Esplanade Skate Park precinct.
The online survey will be open from Friday, July 28 to Friday, August 11 at the “have your say” section of the council’s website.
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Originally published as Council to kick off review into Esplanade Skate Park
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