Attempting to clean up the Millennium Skate Park garnered a group of skateboard enthusiasts a dose of unwanted attention over the weekend.
A group of skateboarders gathered at the park and began cleaning up garbage when they were approached by bylaw officers and asked to stop, according to a local skateboarder who contacted Metro yesterday.
Stefan Krcmar works at a local skate shop in the city and said he was disappointed to hear the initiative, spearheaded by the Calgary Association of Skateboarding Enthusiasts (CASE), was shut down by bylaw officers.
“It seems like this city is just so unfriendly towards skateboarding and this group was just out there trying to clean up the park and do a good deed,” Krcmar said.
While the organizers of the event didn’t return calls for comment, they admitted on their website that potential $500 fines would be doled out because they sent up a tent on the skate park grounds.
Animal and bylaw services director Bill Bruce said any time a tent-like setup is on city property, parks and bylaw officers need to be warned to allow permission.
“I understand they wanted to clean up the park and do a thing, but you can’t just set up a tent and not tell anyone,” he said.
“It’s just a matter of asking parks, and they let us know and then we can just monitor the situation, but you definitely need permission.”
