City council is being asked to include money in the upcoming budget to help fund upgrades to a skate park in memory of a Windsor man killed in a hit-and-run in Vancouver.
Mike Budinsky appeared before council Monday to request that funding be included in the 2024-to-2033 Capital Budget for the upgrade of the Ryan Barron Memorial Skate Park.
Ryan Barron was a well-known skateboarding and music enthusiast in Windsor who frequented the skate park in the city's west end.
The 30-year-old Barron was riding his skateboard in Vancouver in April of 2016 when he was killed in a hit-and-run.
The skate park in Windsor's Atkinson Park has been officially named the Ryan Barron Memorial Skate Park, named in honour of Ryan Barron who was killed skateboarding in a hit and run crash in Vancouver in 2016. May 16, 2023 (Photo by Rusty Thomson)
After Ryan's death, his family and the Friends of Atkinson Park and Pool Committee (FFAPPC) began a fundraising campaign aimed at adding a skate bowl to the park in his memory.
Windsor council approved the 'Barron Bowl' project in 2017 and the 'Friends 4 Atkinson' began fundraising for the concrete bowl, with $60,000 already raised.
Originally when the plans were drawn up and approved by the city, the cost was just over $200,000.
Budinsky, a friend of Ryan Barron, says since approval of the project in 2019, fundraising has slowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The price tag of the project has dramatically increased due to inflation of material costs. We had a meeting with the parks staff in November 2023. We were told the cost has risen to a projected $400,000 to $475,000," he says.
Budinsky says community members have worked hard to raise almost $60,000 which the City of Windsor is holding for the project.
"We will continue to raise money but we need to know that the project will happen and that it's in the city's budget to encourage people to keep donating," he says.
Photo of Ryan Barron posted on Facebook Jan. 24, 2016.
Mike Budinsky says looking at the Capital Budget, they see a lot of wonderful parks projects for 2024 and 2025.
"We support these expenditures, of course, as they increase the diversity of recreational experiences for residents in the city. Likewise, we want to see a placeholder for the Barron Bowl project added to the city's Capital Budget for 2024 and 2025," he adds.
Atkinson Park is located at 2005 Riverside Drive West while the memorial skate park is at the opposite end of the park at 1934 University Avenue West.
City council will continue the budget process on Monday, Jan. 29, 2024.