Ahh, the Leeside tunnel project. How long could it possibly take to get a skatepark built in an abandoned tunnel? A long time indeed. I remember reading about a "skate spot in the Leeside tunnel" in Concrete Powder (or Vehicle or one of those magazines) about 9 years ago when I lived in Toronto. Assuming that it was a typo, I got out a map, identified a few possible spots in the Leaside neighbourhood, then got on my bike and spent an afternoon on a recon mission. No success. I asked around and nobody had any idea what I was talking about, so I filed it under "What the Fuck?!" and forgot about it.
Fast forward almost 10 years... the mystery of location is solved, but progress on the actual skate spot was forced to take a huge step backwards and then slow to a crawl. Last year, the project got an apparent shot in the arm after extensive media exposure surrounding the murder of Lee Matasi, the discoverer of the tunnel and the park's namesake. Promises were made about getting work underway on the Leeside Memorial Skatepark. They sounded great and people were stoked, but almost a year later it seems like nothing's been done.
"November Rain", the latest event in the ongoing effort to get the Leeside Memorial Skatepark built, is going down on Sunday, November 19th between 2:00 and 6:00. Abrupt and unforgiving barrier transitions will be assaulted, The Doers, Jaws, and Joel will be providing live music, and Toy Machine's new video "Suffer the Joy" will be premiered at sundown.
The event is sponsored by the Vancouver Skateboard Coalition, Antisocial, and the Leeside Stewardship Council.
Photo courtesy of sillygwailo.
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