Alberton, P.E.I., raising $40K for new skate park

An Alberton mom is relieved she soon won't have to make the 50-minute drive to Summerside so her son and his friends can enjoy a skate park.

Alberton council has voted to allow its own skate park on town property, and will also cover the insurance costs, estimated at about $500 a year.

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"There is a big need for it," said Connie Bernard.

I've been trucking the kids to Summerside for the last year and we fill up the car every weekend and we go.- Connie Bernard

"I've been trucking the kids to Summerside for the last year and we fill up the car every weekend and we go. There's not enough room in my car to take them all. And sometimes we end up, when we get down there, there's other people from the community down there."

Bernard is also a town councillor and is on the skate park committee, so she did not vote on the proposal.

Aiming for it to be built within a year

The committee will begin fundraising for the $40,000 needed to purchase the equipment and pave the lot for the skate park. They hope it can be built within a year.

Bernard said she has already heard from businesses and other communities with skate parks offering to help any way they can.

She believes the park will help get kids more active and draw Alberton and the surrounding communities together.

"They're getting a lot of exercise from it," she said. "I think it would become quite popular."

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