How a new skatepark will help Winnipeggers skateboard in the winter

A new skatepark is coming to Winnipeg and it will allow riders to skateboard year round.

The Manitoba Skateboarding Coalition is opening the park – which is called Pitikwé Skatepark – inside Portage Place in the former Staples space.

"Portage Place is obviously super central for everybody. It's always been a community space…so it just seemed like the perfect fit when it kind of came across our plates," said Lyndsey Wallis with the skateboarding coalition.

Wallis said this is a pilot project, meaning the area will feature DIY obstacles and nothing will be permanent. It will allow people to configure the space they way they want and change it at any time.

"Obviously, we don't necessarily know what the future of Portage Place is, there's some exciting things on the horizon. But the idea really, is that we're going to have obstacles that can be reconfigured and rebuilt anywhere that we need to."

With plans to redevelop Portage Place, Wallis hopes this skatepark can become a permanent fixture in the new plans.

"We're really hoping that we're going to be able to show the community and show, you know, True North, that this is a space that the community needs, this is a space that the community is enjoy. Hopefully they can incorporate us into their space."

For the summer, Wallis said the space will be available for workshops and drop in sessions. The hope is a grand opening will be held in the fall so people can have a space to go in the winter.

Wallis noted this is a grassroots project and any help, whether it be donations, volunteering or providing supplies, would be greatly appreciated.

She said the support for the skatepark so far has been tremendous and the community has really rallied around the project.

"It's really important to keep that sense of community and really give people a place to feel like they belong during those winter months."