Skate park controversy: Public discussion on youth in Huntingdon

Sarah Rennie The members of the Table de concertation jeunesse du Haut-Saint-Laurent (Youth Partnership Table in the Haut-Saint-Laurent) is inviting citizens and candidates in the upcoming municipal election in Huntingdon to an informal public meeting on the realities facing Huntingdon youth on October 26, from 7 pm to 9 pm at the Alfred Langevin Hall. Following the rushed dismantling of the skate park in late September without prior consultation with youth organizations in the municipality, the Huntingdon Maison des Jeunes appealed to the Youth Partnership Table, which groups together a number of partners working with youth related issues, including representatives from schools and school boards, Early Childcare Centres (CPEs), community and government organizations, as well as community organizers at the CISSSMO to help promote the reality and interests of Huntingdon youth. The organizers behind the public meeting envision the evening as an opportunity to listen to area youth and to meet with local candidates within this context, in a spirit of collaboration and consultation. The location of the skate park has long been a contentious issue, located in an area virtually impossible to supervise. The Town of Huntingdon, in a letter explaining the decision to residents, suggests that the decision was taken during an extra-ordinary meeting after a number of young people set fire to a garbage bin attached to the wall of a building. While the fire department was able to control the blaze quickly, the building suffered material damages and as a result, the owner, who also owns the land where the skate park was located, suggested he no longer wanted the skate park on his land. In the same letter, the Mayor of Huntingdon wrote that the municipal council agreed during a meeting on October 5 to relocate some of the equipment, suggesting there were two possible locations under consideration. "The municipal administration is confident in the chosen solution and is of the opinion that the relocation of the modules is in itself a good thing for all." For Cory Campbell, a member of the original group of young people who pushed for the installation of the skate park back in 2004, everything was really rushed. "We did a lot of fundraising for those," he says of the skate park modules. They needed some repairs and could have been relocated," he suggests, while noting he had heard the rail had been given away. "They have taken away the one thing kids use. What else do they have out here for sport and leisure," "We are just trying to figure out the next step," he says. The public meeting will take place on October 26, from 7 pm to 9 pm at the Alfred Langevin Hall.