Pickering West Shore Community Association Update

Pickering West Shore Community Association Update

At the beginning of the year Pickering was taking feedback for what would become the proposed Skateboard Park Strategy.  One of the PWSCA members saw the work myself and other skaters were putting into getting improved facilities in Pickering. The Association applied for, and received, a grant to hire two students; One to design an accessible sensory garden and one to design a skatepark for the West Shore area.

They both worked very hard through the summer and presented progress reports every time we met.

Our final meeting was held in a boardroom at city hall and was attended by City of Pickering Staff Members and Ward 1 Councillor Maurice Brenner.

The Skatepark Design Project student, Syd Patterson, had created a great presentation focusing on the area I've been pushing for since the Petticoat Creek location was shut down. Syd's presentation solidified West Shore Community Centre as the best location for a skatespot. There is more work to be done but it's all coming together.

Photos courtesy of Maurice Brenner 

Final meeting with Students, PWSCA members and City Staff.

3 amazing concept parks by Syd Patterson

Concept 1

 Concept 2

 Concept 3

Sensory Garden design. Pat did a fifty thousand dollar design and concept job for $3000.

Well done sir.

Many Years Later

OK enough time has gone by so I think it's ok to post this. As soon as he got the job, Syd took another job building skateparks for the summer and assured us he'd be able to do both.  The weekly updates kept arriving on time and got better and better. By the end, this is the quality of render he was submitting.

When his final presentation featured the simple greyscale renders from the beginning of the post I thought 'WTF' but kept my mouth shut.  By the AGM I'd figured out 'WTF' was going on.  I am 99.9% sure he'd taken renders off Instagram (a now closed account of @rryancrane) and submitted them. I showed the Association the proof & suggested we just don't include him moving forward and the Association agreed. Pasquale (Pat) made his Sensory Garden presentation.

When the West Shore Skate Spot opened I reached out to Pasquale and invited him. He thanked me for the invite but was arriving from an international trip that day and wouldn't be able to make it. We kept the lines on communication open with him but I haven't heard from Syd in years. The skateparks he built that summer, Granton and Chatfield, Vaughan are both great.