After making it into the final round of the Aviva Community Fund competition, Nelson’s outdoor skatepark didn’t bring home the funding it was hoping for.
The idea was one of 30 from across the country to receive enough votes online to be eligible for a piece of the insurance company’s $1 million community project fund. But in the final stages of the competition, a panel of judges chose instead to fund 11 projects based mainly in Ontario (funds also went to a playground project in Vancouver and an animal shelter in Yellowknife).
“That was kind of a tough blow, not coming out with anything when we made the final,” says Kootenay Lake Outdoor Skatepark Society president Rob Levesque.
But, he adds, the effort required to make the final did bring the community together.
“We had 4,200-plus registered members on the Aviva site who were voting every day,” he says. “If anything it really helped gel the community and show the support.”
Levesque says he’s now working on grant applications and looking at other sources of fundraising for the skatepark. It’s expected to cost about $400,000 to build.