The co-chairs of the fundraising committee which resulted in the creation of Drayton Valley’s skatepark a decade ago, have concerns with recent policy changes for the Town.
“The reason that we’re here is that we wanted to address our concerns regarding the policy C-08-26 Skatepark Art Policy, and to recommend that council remove this policy and remove the graffiti at the skatepark,” said Astrid Mitchell at last week’s council meeting.
She said the youth came together in 2007 in the hopes of having a new, professionally designed skatepark installed in the community. Their hard work paid off in the summer of 2012 when the new park opened.
“Along the way, they challenged the stigma of skateboarders; that they were trouble makers and had nothing better to do than gather at the park,” said Mitchell. “Instead, they highlighted the athleticism, commitment, and discipline required to excel at skateboarding.”
Mitchell said the youth worked hard to make the skatepark a reality, meeting with donors and business partners, and generally being involved in the entire process. In total, the group raised $525,000 for the park.
She said at the time, the committee discussed some concerns regarding the skatepark. One of the topics they addressed was graffiti, and they agreed on a zero-tolerance approach. The reason for this stance was that graffiti could reflect negatively on the sport and the possibility of it could deter donor support for the project.
“We’re not here to debate what is art and what isn’t,” said Mitchell. “We are here because we have a vested interest in the skatepark and we had worked with the Town and were under the impression the Town was going to maintain the park.”
She said she and her co-chair, Pearl Hamdon, felt obligated to the funders who helped them build the skatepark.
“This is not what we were promised,” she said. “We were told that after the fundraising goal was reached at the park and the park was built that the Town of Drayton Valley would maintain the park. This is a Town facility and deserves to be cared for like any other Town facility.”
Mitchell referenced a quote from Cody Rossing, the senior manager of community safety for the Town, stating that the hope was that by opening the skatepark for graffiti, it would reduce the amount of graffiti in other areas. To the co-chairs, it sounded like the skatepark was being sacrificed for the greater good of the community.
Both Mitchell and Hamdon had been down to the skatepark to take some photos of some of what had been painted on the park.
She says she and Hamdon found swastikas, racial slurs, and other offensive language. They also found images that they felt were example tagging.
According to the policy, offensive artwork would be cleaned up regularly, but Mitchell, who has been checking out the park, says it hasn’t been done for a few weeks.
Mitchell also brought up some safety concerns regarding the graffiti. Aside from being distracting for people using the skatepark, the graffiti also hid or altered some of the dimensions of the bowl and other areas, making it dangerous for kids dropping in. It also makes it harder to spot debris or broken glass.
Mayor Nancy Dodds said when council initially considered the issue, they looked to other municipalities to see what they were doing and found that many are going that route.
Dodds said she heard about the issue about a month ago from her older children and their friends, who didn’t approve of the graffiti at the park.
“As leaders, this is a reminder… that enforcement needs to happen every day, numerous times throughout the day. We see our landfill is at an extreme risk; we see our skatepark,” she said.
She told Mitchell and Hamdon that council has been discussing the problem over the past few weeks and will be reviewing the policy.
“You are right in that it is a facility, and would we treat our brand new swimming pool that way or our Omniplex and things like that,” said Dodds.
CAO Troy Grant said the Town has a process in place to deal with the graffiti at the skatepark, however, with only two community peace officers, the issue is finding the time.
Dodds suggested that the CPOs time could maybe be diverted from ticketing to keeping up with the vandalism at the skatepark.
Councillor Fayrell Wheeler said she has recently walked through the skatepark herself and most of the concerns brought forward by Mitchell and Hamdon had been removed.
“I did go through the skatepark and half of what they showed is not there, so it has been removed, and stuff has been [kept up],” said Wheeler. She added that she would like to know how often the CPOs check the area.
Councillor Brandon Boehm also expressed displeasure about the management of the skatepark.
“We were assured as part of council that it was going to be taken care of; it was going to be managed. So I would say on our part, the fact that it was not managed through the last two months is very frustrating on my side for sure,” he says. “When we get told it’s going to be managed, we expect it to get managed.”
Grant said the policy should be revisited, but one issue that he has seen and has been brought forward is that sometimes policies are made but the resources needed to enforce the policy are not necessarily considered.
“These policies came in well after the 2026 budget was approved and it carries probably $30,000 or $40,000 of liability with it to keep it clean,” said Grant.
He says as part of his mandate, he is not supposed to spend money that hasn’t been budgeted. In the case of this policy, there was no additional funds or manpower allocated to ensure the town could reasonably follow through with what they said they would do. Grant said going forward that is something will be brought up with budget deliberations.
“I agree, these things need to be cleaned up. Those were egregious comments and words. I wouldn’t want my grandchildren there either,” said Grant.
