POLOKWANE – A fanatic with the idea of a skate park, an entrepreneur and fine artist, Raymond Shihawu says the city should have a world-class skateboard park that will help position it as a preferred city to host international skateboarding competitions.
“A smart city needs to have world-class infrastructure that meets the needs of its citizens.”
With an idea to build a skateboard park in the city, Shihawu believes the steadily growing skating community should have a facility where they can showcase their talent.
“A skateboard park will serve as a creative outlet for the local youth to freely express themselves.”
The idea to want to build the park was conceived in 2015, after seeing most skaters not having a suitable space to skate and realising the need to have a skatepark to host workshops and competitions.
The idea also fosters a sense of community among skaters and the broader local community as these parks become a meeting place for skaters.
“Another advantage is that it boosts job creation and tourism. It’s not uncommon for skaters from all corners of the world to travel to other countries, so skateparks become tourist destinations,” says Shihawu.
It will also boost the local small business economy through the hosting of events such as contests and public demonstrations which attract an influx of people.
There is already a community of skaters that is growing in Polokwane with clubs such as Rynardt van der Merwe, the founder of PLK Skatelife, also Polokwane Skate and BMX Society are looking forward to engaging with Polokwane Municipality’s town division to help identify a suitable location for the park and the private sector to raise funding.
