Portage Place skatepark searching for new site as renovations ramp up

A non-profit skatepark lauded as an inclusive space for inner-city youth two years ago is scrambling to find a new location as renovations ramp up at Portage Place.

Pitikwé Skatepark opened inside the former Staples at the downtown mall in 2023 and quickly became popular, with more than 100 people visiting on its busiest days.

The park had a short-term lease with Portage Place that was transferred to True North Real Estate Development after it purchased and began developing the property, Pitikwé executive director Dan McRorie said. He said they learned in March they would have about six months to leave.

As the end-of-September deadline nears, McRorie said finding a new, affordable space has been difficult.

“We are totally capable of operating on grant money, (providing) programming that we offer on a day-to-day, month-to-month, year-to-year basis,” he said Thursday.

“But when something like this happens, the financial impact or the cost of moving, it’s just not something we have extra funds for.”

Conversations with the provincial and municipal levels of government haven’t yielded a solution, he said, and he’s now reaching out to possible corporate sponsors and other organizations.

“We’re continuing to try to raise funds for our permanent space, our forever home,” he said. “But in the meantime, I think we also need to pivot and just find a space for the season that we can temporarily use so that we can provide our services, even if it’s a limited capacity during the winter.”

A spokesperson from True North said they had been in “constant contact” with Pitikwé and have been trying to help find a new space since before the building was purchased in November and redevelopment began.

“(True North Real Estate Development) is making every effort to allow Pitikwé Skatepark to operate until an alternative location is identified,” the spokesperson said in an email.

Winnipeg Centre MP Leah Gazan called on “local leaders” to step in and help find a suitable space nearby in hopes of keeping the park in her riding.

“There is no lonelier place than a place abandoned by children. In this case, it’s the lack of political will that robbed children, youth and families of their right to joy,” she said in a post on X Tuesday.

Area councillor Cindy Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre) echoed Gazan’s call.

“These kinds of recreational hubs are not just ‘nice to have,’ they are essential for fostering belonging, supporting mental and physical health,” she said in an email Thursday.

“I truly hope they find a new permanent home so their positive impact can continue for years to come.”

McRorie said the space isn’t just about skateboarding — they hold community events and partner with downtown organizations to provide health and art programming. Kids under 18 get in free, as do all Indigenous patrons, and he described the park as “no-barrier” entry, meaning they don’t turn away people who can’t pay.

The skate park, he said, is “recreation as prevention” — a way to keep vulnerable kids away from drugs, alcohol and gang life.

“I’m already getting messages and hearing from the youth that are our community, that they’re really worried about this winter, what are they going to do?” McRorie said.

“Because it’s one thing if you’re a skateboarder and you just can’t skate, that’s one thing. But what we are here for are the youth that need a place to go.”

Some young people, like 19-year-old Kyrra Rudolph-McKinney, have come to work at Pitikwé after falling in love with the community.

“As a person who first went there, everybody was so welcoming, there was no judgment at all,” she said.

“They were very friendly and helpful, and it really, really made me get back into skateboarding.”

In recent weeks, she said it has become somewhat of a hub for wildfire evacuees coming to skate and hang out.

It’s “devastating” for her to think that there may not be a space like it this winter for her and her friends and family.

“It just kind of sucks,” she said.

“I am going to miss it a lot, and I hope we get the funding as soon as possible to reopen, because it is pretty much a safe space for a lot of different people, including myself.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca