At the Design Open House for the Lake Wilcox Skatepark (IDK how many years ago - Found it. It was June of 2016), a city staff member told me that the skatepark at Richmond Green was nearing its end of life. I've been skating there since at least 2008. I'm pretty sure the ramps are ramps are from a company called Ramparts, which hasn't existed since 2014. Today (Feb 11, '25) I discovered the plans for Revitalization of Richmond Green include decommission of the old metal skatepark. I did not find any info on anything new so I sent an email. Later in the day, I found what I wanted to see, info about a new skatepark, and sent another email asking if I could be of assistance. UPDATE - I've been added to the 'Notification List' for the project by the Project Manager.
Given that the metal ramps are very noisy and the area to the north of the current skatepark will become residential, I'm not surprised the skatepark is being relocated to a more central location within Richmond Green Park. This also made it harder to find in the materials as it is part of the Youth Sports Area and not listed as 'Skatepark'.
One major concern is the new space vs the old space. The current park has a very large footprint while having the obstacles quite spread out. The new Lake Wilcox skatepark is about the same size but the obstacles are more compact. Richmond Green is popular for BMX as the mini-ramp is large with a spine and other obstacles cater to bikes. RG also is able to host large groups. I've seen summer camps & rollerskater groups of 30 people use the park without it feeling cramped.
Still difficult to find but it's the Yellow spot in the middle of both concepts is the Youth Area meaning the proposed area is roughly half the size of the current park. I'm hoping the new park will be able to be used by the same large groups that currently use the metal skatepark.
Amazing skatepark on the 2nd floor featuring a massive street style layout with features for all skill levels. First floor features 2 mini-ramps, bowl and some additional ledges and rails. There's also a fully equipped skate shop with everything from boards to gear.
The City of Toronto is planning a skate spot in this park in the Markham & Ellesmere area. They are a little behind in putting out the survey so perhaps they need some encouragement. It's 2025 and I'm back on my bull$#!t.😜
Woburn Park Skate Spot- The city is comparing this project to West Lodge & Smithfield. Survey was supposed to be out Dec '24.
Now the Skate Spot has been delayed to Fall 2026 & M. still has not responded.
West Lodge Skatepark
Hi M from Toronto
I am excited to hear about the Woburn Park Skate Spot project. I'm a local skatepark advocate and I promote skatepark projects on my blog and social media. I have received a lot of feedback on recent Toronto projects and I hope reaching out to you with some information will help.
Firstly, the skateparks the project is being compared with, West Lodge and Smithfield, are not very well liked parks. I understand the comparison is more about scale but I'd consider using Fundy Bay or Neilson Skatepark as a better examples. West Lodge is a pre-cast park with several design flaws (no deck on the QP & the crushed gravel between the weird hip gap) and Smithfield, being metal pre-fab, is very loud when in use.
Fundy Bay Skatepark
Secondly, I've received a number of requests for a Mini-Ramp or transition based spot. A small transition based skate spot would be great for younger users on skateboards, scooters and toddle-bikes while giving users of all ages and skills something to skate. Transition parks are usually more quiet as boards aren't hitting rails or dropping off stairs. Oakville's Cornwall Rd Skate Spot is a great example of one of these type of parks. A simple open bowl attracts riders to McKinney Skatepark in Whitby.
Cornwall Rd Skate Spot in Oakville
McKinney Skatepark Open Bowl in Whitby
I hope this information assists you as the consultations get started. Please reach out to me if you have any questions. I've attached links to the skatepark examples on my blog. The Skateboarding community is looking forward to the survey and completed project. One company I must caution you on is Canadian Ramp Company. I have kept careful record of their projects across Ontario and their concrete work has been far below industry standard and their pre-fabricated ramps have issues with damage and excessive noise.
Carter Antila Memorial- New Liskeard/Temisakming Shores
Temagami Skatepark
Waterford, ON. 7/26 #553
Sonny Belch Skate Dot, Belleville 8/12
Bismark Park Skatepark- Cambridge 8/14 #555
Stork Family YMCA- Waterloo
RIM Pump Track- Waterloo
Dowling 2.0 8/23
Highland DIY Skatepark 9/12
Unity Skatepark, Northville, MI #560
Luke Nelson Skatepark- Medina, NY 9/16
The Railyard Skatepark- Lockport, NY
Lewistown, NY. Twin of Mold-master 1.0
Nobleton Pump Track 10/9
Manotick Skatepark & pump track 565 10/10
Findlay Creek
Greely skatepark
George Jowett Memorial random ramp near Morrisburg.
Southfields Skatepark, Caledon. 10/14
Oakville 16 mile Creek Skatepark & Pumptrack 10/18
McNally st Skate Dot, Georgetown 10/25
Brimorton/Meadowglen Sk8 Dot 12/02
Honourable mentions - Wellesley, Southfields & Bismark Park, Cambridge.
I went to the states a couple times.
Let's Go Buffalo!
2 trips up north.
My kids have started to make some trips with me.
My Halloween costume was a miniature replica of The Hoof. I built it out of cardboard over the winter and then made a little edit. My costume won the Later Skaters Halloween Bash best over-all costume.
On the Advocacy side, I've continued to push for more parks in Pickering as well as getting the West Shore Skate Spot usable again after an ill advised paint job. Pickering is working on new parks (slowly) and recently updated the 10yr Parks & Rec Master Plan with includes quite a bit about All-Wheels Parks.
The West Shore Skate Spot Spring Clean-up collected over 300lbs of waste from the area.
I've been freelance consulting on projects for a few years but I made an official post. Let me help you! Free Skatepark Consultations.
Southfields in Caledon finally opened adding to my pre-work park network. I barged on Thanksgiving. Park 569.
My Battle against CRC continues with another 2 botched concrete jobs (there's a third I haven't been able to lurk yet). One of their pre-fab installations took a bite out of my wheel and one of the concrete spots failed so bad the central feature was rebuilt within a few months.
I dug deep into Toronto's Parks project page and found 14 previously unknown Skate Feature projects (Everything from skateparks to skate dots & legal street spots). I then discovered 2 of the projects are complete.
Brimorton Skate Dot This year's Xmas Skate Edit
Skateboarding is awesome. Don't gatekeep. Don't be a kook. Don't yuck somebody else's yum. Build stuff. Skate the way you want. Progression, not Perfection.
Rest in Peace Patti McGee
We got a Damn Patti board when we found out we were having a girl. Patti signed the deck and wished my daughter a 'happy birthday' every year. She's a legend and will never be forgotten.
I found this project after pouring through 225 different Toronto Park projects. I couldn't find any other info then 'Feature 9 - Large open lawn/passive play skating feature (informal space for skateboarding and rollerblading with small concrete slopes)'
So on a day off, I went to lurk the spot that I though wouldn't be complete until 2026. Well Surprise! Phase 1 is complete and the 'informal' skate spot is there. It's more of a shared public space or legal street spot consisting of 3 rollers and a manny pad. The Public side of the ledge is capped.
I wasn't planning of skating but when opportunity calls...ya gotta answer.
.JPG)
