Under the wheel

A popular public attraction is going for a skate to make way for the tunnel through Victoria Park. Valerie Schuler reports.
Chey Ataria took up skateboarding as an energetic 14-year-old. In those days, young skaters took to city streets and made do with whatever makeshift ramps they could find. There was no such thing as designated skating spots.
Nowadays, skateboarders young and old congregate at Victoria Park skate park. Built by
Auckland City Council in 1999 as part of its Skate Strategy - designed to get skaters off the streets - the park attracts hundreds of regular visitors each week.
Work on the $406 million Victoria Park tunnel, scheduled to start in October, means the
skate park and public toilets will be removed soon.
Mr Ataria says this will leave a massive gap for the hundreds of skaters and BMX riders who use them.
"People will end up skating on the streets again if there's nothing that caters for their needs,'' says the former New Zealand skateboarding champ. "It's coming into summer and a lot more people will be out skating. There's a real need for skate parks, otherwise people have nowhere to go.''
Young skater Jerome Ngan-Kee agrees.
"There's nowhere else for us to skate in the city,'' says the 16-year-old, who comes all the way from Western Springs to use the park's ramps, ledges and manual pads.
"It sucks the skate park is going. It's a place a lot of us meet up and hang out. It's safe and close to lots of things.''
There is another skateboard ramp in Grey Lynn but the quality is poor, says Mr Ataria. The Vic Park ramps and jumps cost $200,000 and it is the only skate park in central Auckland that caters for competition-level skaters.

Mr Ataria is in an advisory group of skaters and BMX riders that has discussed the options with the council and the New Zealand Transport Agency. One possibility is to relocate the ramps elsewhere within Victoria Park temporarily while work on the tunnel is under way. But nothing is confirmed.
"Timing for the installation of the replacement skate park cannot be confirmed at this stage and will depend on the outcome of these discussions as well as the consenting process,'' says chairman of the arts, culture and recreation committee, councillor Greg Moyle. He says the transport agency and the council are keen to minimise the period that Victoria Park would be without a skate park.
The skate park, toilets and adjoining Victoria Park Bowling Club are scheduled for removal next month.
It's unclear what will become of the skate park once the tunnel is completed in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Mr Moyle says the existing equipment will either be re-used or a new skate park will be built.
"It was getting a bit tired anyway, so it's an opportunity to upgrade it,'' he says.
The transport agency will pay for costs associated with the skate park's interim relocation.
Mr Ataria says this is an opportunity to improve skating facilities in central Auckland.
"It's a chance to build something even better, on an international scale; somewhere we can hold competitions. I look forward to seeing what they come up with.''