A proposed skatepark, to be built at the corner of Jubilee Road and Rosedale Avenue, is seen as a worthwhile project for the community.
The cost, however, is significant, especially now that a grant application did not come through.
The Canada 150 grant application would have covered roughly half the cost of the $594,200 project.
The Summerland Skatepark Committee already has $135,000 from the Penny Lane Society.
If the grant had been approved, the outstanding amount would have been around $160,000. It’s a significant amount of money, but not too difficult for a community to raise.
However, without the grant, the community still needs to raise close to $460,000. That’s a sizeable amount for a small community.
Finding another source of money instead of the Canada 150 grant will be a huge challenge.
Some money has already come in through the sales of merchandise, such as caps and T-shirts bearing the Summerland Skatepark logo.
However, merchandise sales should be seen as a way of promoting the cause rather than funding it.
Caps are selling for $25 and T-shirts are selling for $20. At those prices, it would take a lot of sales to cover the remaining costs.
It may be possible to find other federal or provincial grant funding for the skatepark, and it may be possible to find donors willing to fund a portion of the cost of this facility, but locating the money will not be an easy task.
Without another funding source to replace the Canada 150 grant, the skatepark might not become a reality any time soon.