“We went from not having an outdoor park, to having one that’s a bar to judge others by,” says Forks chief operating officer Paul Jordan. “We’ve had calls about the park from all over the world. People talk about Winnipeg who never heard of the city before.”

Vancouver’s New Line Skate Parks designed the Plaza, consulting with two landscape architecture firms—Vancouver’s van der Zalm and Associates and Winnipeg’s Scatliff Miller Murray.

“It was unbelievable to be involved with this,” says Scatliff Miller Murray designer and 20-year skateboarding veteran Bob Somers. “Every major city, even smaller ones, had an outdoor skate park. We could have put in a flat pad and a bench and it would’ve looked good. Then this idea came out of left field and the only stipulation was it had to be world-class.”

Though critics early on warned of crowding, crime and violence, the planners produced an environment that fits comfortably with The Forks’ image as a lively meeting place. “We made something that works for skateboarders and for all the other people in The Forks,” says Somers.

Around the Plaza from noon to dusk, experienced skateboarders in the Skate Patrol keep watch for any trouble while they give tips on technique and skateboarding etiquette to visitors. After hours, The Forks’ regular security patrol maintains a safe environment for dangerous fun.

“If you’re there to cause trouble or do something bad, you’re gonna get busted,” says Genico Aiello, the Plaza’s program coordinator and owner of SK8, which recently relocated to The Forks Market. Aiello helps recruit Skate Patrol members, but says skateboarders usually have only one thing on their minds. “It’s a sport that needs a lot of physical and mental discipline. They’re too busy skating to cause trouble.”

“The community is really open and accepting,” adds Aiello. “The experienced ones always encourage kids trying out the most basic moves.”

Aiello likes that the Plaza’s downtown location attracts kids—rich and poor, young and old—from all parts of the city. “You don’t need an expensive bag of gear, or a drive to practice. It’s accessible to all kids and teaches them to accomplish something through hard work.”

The $2.5 million to build the park came as a surprise gift in April 2005 from the James Burns Family Foundation, with no doubt about location.

“The benefactor wanted it at The Forks by fall 2006,” says Jordan, happy to oblige. On the pathways now, and in the halls of The Forks Market and Johnston Terminal, kids with dreadlocks carrying skateboards only half their size mix in the crowds with middle-aged shoppers and tourists.

“We’re recruiting a whole demographic, one we’ve never had before, and they’re bringing a new energy to The Forks. I’ve seen a hundred people there at three in the morning—people who work in restaurants coming to skateboard after a late shift,” says Jordan. “These are all Winnipeg’s kids, and it’s good they’ve made The Forks their place.”