Nelson skateboarders are calling on locals to vote in a campaign that could award the outdoor skate park with as much as $150,000.
The Nelson outdoor skate park was part of the Aviva Community Fund last year and made it all the way to the finals but lost to another community project.
“Last year we made it all the way to the finals; all the way to the end,” said Rob Levesque.
“If you make it through the semi-finals the judges decide who gets the money. They actually called me and apologized for not giving us anything. I didn’t really have that much to say. I was pretty upset. I figure we do it again this year and they’ve got to give us something.”
Levesque said that the tough part of the competition is that there are a lot of worth while projects in the running with the skate park.
“I was looking at the ideas for other projects and they are things like shelters for horses. They are all worthy. There is a lot of great ideas and obviously they are all community improvement ideas,” he said.
The voting for the semi-finals began on Monday and people now have 12 days to vote, and in that time can cast their ballot 15 times.
Levesque said the overall project is doing well but what they really need now is the funds to push the project forward.
“We have land, and we have a design. Of course we do need a lot of money to make this a reality,” he said.
“The mayor called me last week and he is fully behind it and wants to do whatever he can to make it a reality. The Rotary — I have made a presentation to them and have been in touch with them over the last few days — they’ve really jumped behind it and they’ve said they’re behind it 100 per cent now and they’re going to make it their main funding priority. You know when you have the Rotary and the mayor behind you, things look up.”