North Bay’s new all-wheel park officially opens

North Bay opens new all-wheel park North Bay opened its new Kiwanis All-Wheel Park Friday afternoon, when several dozen boarders and cyclists tried out the new facility.

The City of North Bay officially opened its new downtown all-wheel park on Friday afternoon.

The Kiwanis All-Wheel Park is located behind Oak Street near the transit depot behind the basketball court close to the city’s waterfront.

Dozens of boarders, cyclists and skaters were on hand to try out the new facility – which had actually been in use for a few days.

City officials said the $1.9 million skate park is another addition to its growing downtown waterfront revitalization plan.

“I’m unbelievably stoked,” said skateboarder Justin Serran.

“I’ve been skating for 20 years and since I got on a board, I’ve been wanting to have a skate park here. So, just to see it come 20 years later is a full circle moment and a dream come true honestly.”

The province provided about $800,000 in funding for the park and the local Kiwanis Club provided an additional $100,000 to make it a reality.

“(It) is an exciting day for our community as we announce the opening of the North Bay All-Wheel Park, supported by $801K through the NOHFC (Northern Ontario Heritage Fund,)” said Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli on social media.

“A pleasure joining Mayor Peter Chirico to announce this incredible new space for our whole community to enjoy and stay active.”

Skateboarder Francois Alarie told CTV News that the park makes him feel young again.

“It’s good for the mental health for me,” he said.

“It beats just sitting around at home and doing nothing.”

Following the official ribbon-cutting Chirico thanked the province for helping to make the park a reality.

“This just adds to our downtown and our waterfront, our basketball courts and beach volleyball courts,” he said.

The city said a few minor additions such as container washrooms will be coming to the park's plaza in the spring.