Indoor winter skateboarding becomes a reality

Since December, the Superior Community Skatepark Association (SCSA) has been hosting indoor skateboarding sessions at the Searchmont Community Centre, now affectionately dubbed the 'Searchmont Skate Sanctuary'.

Sponsored by Tidal Records, the public is invited to hone their skills in a warm, dry, well lit environment every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

“Like every winter, skateboarders are just dying to skate because that’s what they love to do. But there’s no real space to that,” said Travis McCormack, SCSA president.

Before committing to the weekly event, the organization hosted a test pilot session to determine the impact of skateboarding on the floor of the community centre. It then worked out a deal where the hall would be rented to SCSA every Sunday with the condition that in the spring the association would repaint the floor.

“The community is excited because they get a nice newly painted floor and the community centre gets more use,” said McCormack. “One of the goals is to engage the community and provide recreation, so it aligned with the organization’s goals.”

Because of the nature of the space, most of the participants practice their flat ground skateboarding. But users are invited to DIY the space into a makeshift skatepark by bringing their own rails or boxes as long as they’re removed at the end of the day.

McCormack suggests to those who want to take part but may not have transportation they take advantage of the Searchmont Resort bus shuttle service to get to and from the venue.

“If all goes well with the volunteers we need to paint the floor, I don’t see why we wouldn’t continue it next winter,” he said. “The idea was to gather the statistics and see how well it goes in Searchmont, and possibly have more than one location or one in the Sault in addition to Searchmont.”

“As a skatepark association working with the city, they can’t really help us out with this scenario, but we’re looking at the bigger picture and trying to do something bigger and better and more accessible for the Sault. This is kind of like a test.”

In an effort to raise awareness of the weekly skate sessions, which continue through March, the SCSA is hosting the Searchmont Skate-a-polooza on Saturday, Feb. 4.

The day kicks off at 1 p.m. at at the Searchmont Community Centre with free skates, games of skate, mini games, skating tips, prizes and more until 7 p.m. Following that, the celebration will move to Searchmont Resort for an evening of snowboarding and live music featuring Gneaus, K.I.C.K., and The Din from 8 to 11 p.m. Return bus service to Sault Ste. Marie is available for $10 at 12 midnight.

To learn more about this and all other Superior Community Skatepark Association, please click here.