OFFICIAL WORD ON LEESIDE: from the city

[sir HUCK-A-LOT]

k i wrote a letter to the city of vancouver on saturday and got a reply today. as you will note i did this in a formal way and was respectful. see how quick you get an answer.

heres the reply email from them:

Dear Mr. Arnold,

Thanks for your note. The current use in the tunnel for skaters and BMX is informal and not regulated by anyone, so the City will be conducting some public consultation to get input from all the stakeholders (skaters and BMXers included) to determine the future of this space.

We are hoping to get funding for this work so it can be done this summer. There will be a number of public announcements in local papers and signs around the tunnel when we begin.

Please feel free to contact me if you'd like further information.

C. Douglas Smith, P.Eng.
Structures & Greenways Engineer
tel: 604.873.7320
fax: 604.871.6193



-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Arnold [mailto:flowrider@shaw.ca]
Sent: Monday, April 07, 2003 8:46 AM
To: pnrxm@xmail.city.vancouver.bc.ca
Subject: To Whom it may Concern



Hi there,

I am a Vancouver City resident and have been informed about changes that
may be occurring to an area within the City?? The area I am referring to
is the tunnel at the end of Pender that runs from behind the ECOMM building
through to hastings street park, which is the big grass field beside the
Playland/PNE fairgrounds. The tunnel itself has adopted the name Leeside
Tunnel, and runs right beside the Cassier Tunnel.

This tunnel has been used for the last few years as a skate/bmx park. I
have heard that there have will be some changes made to this area and was
wondering where I would be able to find the information on these changes
and what the proposed changes would be.

I would also like to know if there will be any public forums on the issue
or council meetings and when and they would be occurring.

Thank You for your time and prompt response


************************************************** *

Andrew Arnold

[bullit_kid]

good to hear andrew :)

but thing that worries me, is that if they do make it a full park for skaters and bmx'ers on rainy days it will be so packed full of skaters .. because hastins which is right there anyways.. will be wet

my only concern

[rOOfToP]

nicely writen. class act mr arnold. I realy didnt think u could pull it off. good job

[sir HUCK-A-LOT]

i just wrote a reply in which i stated exactly that, and the rumored change of having a cement park and the consequences of it. about how the ramps allow for versatility and it also allows for progression of the park itself.

this actually started out as part of a poli-science project now i actually have a great intrest in it

[rOOfToP]

your english skills are exellent.

also hows there girlfriend?

[Midas]

Originally posted by sir HUCK-A-LOT


We are hoping to get funding for this work so it can be done this summer. There will be a number of public announcements in local papers and signs around the tunnel when we begin.




I am a little confused by what the mean by "get funds for this work" Do they mean that they might rebuilt it?

[sir HUCK-A-LOT]

shut up hahaha....i spell check everything i send, versus here where i just type haha.

and do you mean my girlfriend or their??? huh???? enlgish you need learn

[white ri0t]

Originally posted by sir HUCK-A-LOT
shut up hahaha....i spell check everything i send, versus here where i just type haha.

and do you mean my girlfriend or their??? huh???? enlgish you need learn

Dylan strikes again!

[rOOfToP]

NONSENCE

[sir HUCK-A-LOT]

these are all questions that you guys should be asking to the city when they have their public information sessions.

see the sad fact is that they will have these meetings and 99% of those who ride there wont pitch. that means that the district makes changes and you get no say. thats why people should go to these kinds of meetings.
it takes 30 minutes or so.....but the impact can last for a lot longer

[.243racer]

hopfully they keep it wood... i f they keep it:rolleyes: :(

[ronald55555]

excellent letter, Mr.Arnold, great english too, thx for writing the letter.

[twofortythree]

taht is more of a riding spot...the skaters havce hastings

[125]

i hope it doesn't get torn down ,i still need to ride there

[sir HUCK-A-LOT]

k well here is a little lesson in politics for you youngin's and some of you oldies who dont already know.
i've been doing poli sci all semester at school and have learned: THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT GO TO MEETINGS ARE THOSE WITH INTREST OR HAVE SOMTHING TO GAIN OR LOSE!!!

we were learning about how it is really only the elite that votes and cares, why?? because they have the most to lose.
the bmxers may see a meeting with the city as a waste of time, but you KNOW that the city and neighbors will be there because this has a real impact on them. they will put in their 2 cents and where will we be??? sitting at home watching much music or friends twiddling our thumbs. thats how politics goes guys. and guess whos ideas get put into the construction of leeside?? not ours.

so that might be a message to get of urs asses and do somthing.
i went to a district meeting tonight for a poli-sci assignment. it was nothing but old people. old people with a voice.
and we wonder why the youth of today complains that we get no input. its cause we dont make an attempt to go.

[Keefer]

Nice work Arnold. Keep us posted on meetings and so forth.

Thanks for the Poli-sci lesson too :P

[sir HUCK-A-LOT]

hahaha im so screwed......i got 8 article reports due wednesday morning and only have 2 done. gotta pick an article from the news and explain how its the same as stuff we have learned.
hardest part is finding stuff that relates.

i wrote a pretty sweet letter to our Prime Minister. totally bitched him out for his fence sitting with the whole Iraq deal and how we have no army and its an embaressment.

[corey@nsmb.com]

Butter job Andrew. Thats how it has to be done, rational, thought out letters that show that we have an articulated voice.

I would have been a little more stoked if you called someone a n00b in that letter though. Maybe we can save that for a public meeting? :lol: j/k.

Good job!

[sir HUCK-A-LOT]

public meeting it is....

[Midas]

I would like to attend one of these meetings, calling someone a n00b though wouldn't be a very good idea although I would get a pretty harty laugh out of it.

[Big_Air_Smite]

Good job andrew, props, you're right, just speak nicely to people and you get places.

[seand]

Originally posted by shor3 whor3
I am a little confused by what the mean by "get funds for this work" Do they mean that they might rebuilt it?


well, if this were in the states that would translate out to be something like...

"we plan to get the funding to tear down the stomping grounds for the troublemakers, and transform said location into a profitable stripmall with 2 starbucks at opposite corners, and 8 Terryaki resturants throughout."

:lol:


nicely done..finally someone listened after i posted about 30 different "email your local officials to find out"

well done.

[jeremy]

If you want to help out saving Leeside and keep it bike specific we have to work with The Vancouver SkatePark Coalition. They are the reason there is lights in the tunnel and propably have more say about the area then anyone else. For every mountain biker who has ridden in a Skate Parks in the Lowermainland you have these guys to thank. Contact them and show your support.

Go to there web site to find out more. http://www.vspc.ca

The man incharge of Bikers for the VSPC is Chris Young you can contact him at chris@chasebmxmag.com.

If we start volunteering and going to meetings we could be a driving force on what happens to Leeside. IF 25 Skaters support the changes to leeside and 60 bikers they will build the transistions and size of the park for big wheels. There will be no gates like Hastings Bowl there might even be a chance to get some DJ's at the end of the tunnel. If the skaters out number the Bikers well then expect to see Leeside alot smaller with alot more attitude because you are a biker...

[seand]

well since leeside is so important to so many people, and this info that both andrew and jeremy posted in this tread is very useful, im going to sticky this.

[sir HUCK-A-LOT]

thanx for the stickify.....i'll keep ya guys posted if i hear anything more from the city in the next little while

[Chris @ Chase BMX]

Hi everybody,

I’m Chris Young, from the Vancouver Skatepark Coalition. This message board (and thread) came to my attention this afternoon, so I thought I should probably introduce myself to you guys, and give you some background info on the Leeside tunnel, the VSPC, as well as straighten out a few details.

Most notably, on this board I saw ‘Jeremy’s “if you want to keep Leeside bike-specific” note. Uh... I wouldn’t head that direction with this. Our group has been working with the City, it’s various departments, the surrounding Community Centres, the Community and the neighbours that live right beside Leeside for years.

I do represent the BMX’ers of Vancouver as one of the Board of Directors of the VSPC. That said, I make sure I keep the line of communication open between the skateboarders and the BMX’ers, and push for the rights of BMX’ers in ‘skateparks’. The wording of the constitution of the VSPC includes skateboarding, BMX and in-lining (although I haven’t seen any in-liner’s at any meetings in over 2 and half years), but does not include mountain bikes in the verbiage, as that is even more of an uphill battle than BMX’ers in the parks, as it is also a huge insurance/risk assessment issue.

I won’t even go into that here, (especially here on a MTN bike board) ‘cause that could go on for days, but I will say that anybody is welcome at the meetings, but that doesn’t guarantee that you can just walk in and demand immediate access and answers. You can email the secretary at the VSPC (vancouverskateparkcoalition@hotmail.com – until we get the new email addresses working) and get yourself booked to speak at the next meeting.

The Vancouver Skatepark Coalition (VSPC) are the ones currently working with several jurisdictions the City of Vancouver (Engineering, Parks Board, + E-Comm), and are the ones that fought for the lights to stay on there, and that was quite some time ago. If you look at the surface of the park, as it stands now would be horrible to skate on, and we’ve been working on getting the floor surface replaced, then rebuilding the park up from scratch with full permission of the City and it’s various departments. The objects would be both skate and bike, but probably smaller transition stuff, with a bit of bigger transition elements, rails, benches and wedges. The VSPC was the original group that set it up in the tunnel, but the skater’s stopped going because of the unusable surface. We’ve been working on this for years now. It’s an extremely slow and painful process, and I wouldn’t hold your breath on any of this happening or an official decision to be made soon.

Keep in mind that the tunnel currently runs under 3 different jurisdictions, and if you know anything about how the City and it’s several departments work, not only does the right hand not know what the left is doing, sometimes it doesn’t even know what the other fingers beside it are doing. No offence to those involved, that’s just how many people are involved in things like this. Just as one department of the city says they’re moving forward and it’s almost ready to go, we hear word that Engineering is taking dimensions to build a fence to shut it down permanently. Thus, all the confusion over this facility, which is now going into it’s 4th year as an unofficial skateboard and BMX facility. We are honestly not much further along on this project than we were more than 3 years ago.

I’ll fill you in on some of the background of this tunnel.

- E-Comm isn’t too psyched with the idea of the facility right beside it because of the graffiti that surrounds it.
- The neighbours aren’t too psyched on all the graffiti

See where this is going? It’s the graffiti that’s the problem, as it is always the largest concern the VSPC faces when doing anything. (garbage is also another issue we’ve been dealing with)

That said, anytime you see somebody painting outside of the tunnel, do everybody a favour and kick ‘em in the nuts. They’re killing us down there, and all over the City. I understand the residents and City don’t mind painting in the tunnel, but as soon as it comes outside, it becomes a problem. The City takes an extremely serious zero tolerance on graffiti.

That tunnel is also an official emergency route, which is also another huge challenge, therefore there must be clear passage for a large truck to get through in the event of an emergency.



The Vancouver Skatepark Coalition meets every first Wednesday of the month at the Roundhouse Arts & Recreation Centre. EXCEPT the month of May this year because of Slam City Jam. The VSPC will be giving tours down at Slam City Jam to the Mayor, City Councilours and the Parks Board members, as well as have a booth set up to collect members and inform the public about who we are and what we do.

Again, for those that missed it, our website (which is undergoing huge development right now) is http://www.vspc.ca.


-- Chris Young,
Board of Director, VSPC