Sleeping Lion Skatepark

 Sleeping Lion Skatepark

Innisfil, ON

AKA Emberton Way Skatepark

Innisfil's first concrete skatepark is located in a new subdivision, right between two homes.

There's a lot to unpack here from placement to design/construction choices.

BTW - I had a good time.

One design choice I thought was odd was the placement of the entire park and the way the bowl faces away from the road. I was expecting to find graffiti in the hidden section of the bowl.

One side of the park features a Little QP with a ride on ledge and bank to QP.

The Little QP could be great for learning but...

...the coping protrudes well more than the standard. 

In contrast, the coping on the large QP and Bowl section had very little reveal.

The seam at the bottom of the large QP is deep and wide. I lost traction any time I tried to carve the QP with speed.

The Flat Bar is a surprisingly high 20 inches (16" is standard)

Between the seam at the bottom of the Large QP and the lumpy bank, Popping onto the 20" high rail was really difficult. Another experienced skater was at the park that day and we both had challenges due to the construction of the park.

Fantastic Ledge/Manny Pad Feature but I've seen them constructed better. The sloped surface of the flats (so water drains) made the tall ledge an inch shorter where it meets the Manny Pad.

Middle section with the A frame, ride-on, rails and hubba.

Big Step-up gap with wonky hubba and it's hard to get enough speed dropping in from the Large QP. I carved the QP or rolled in to get enough speed for tricks in that direction.

I thought this hubba looked wonky and when I measured it, it was. It leans to the right side.

The volcano end of the mini-bowl is ok. I feel like any other company would have finished the edge differently, either with coping (metal or hand formed) or at least blended it into the coping.

What a nice view of the park.

Sike! it's right next to a house. While skateparks belong in neighbourhoods, this is too close. Additionally, the out rails are a Sack Tapping 30" high!

This 'seam' is really a caulked crack.

Gotta love all the fine touches.

Another deep seam in front of the A-frame.

Big step-up

I was hoping that the sidewalk was either in place before the build or put in by a GC after the park was finished, but no. They built a step into the skatepark.

Guess the guy in the wheelchair is outta luck.

Given the space available, I wonder why there wasn't a playground or splash pad where the skatepark is located & the skatepark could be placed behind where it would still be visible but further from the 2 homes. What do I know anyways? *Cough* 525 skateparks *Cough*