A Winnipeg city councillor is hoping to see a skatepark in his area named after a young athlete who died earlier this year.
Coun. Scott Gillingham (St. James) said he’s been working with the family of Matt Jonsson, who died at 24 in February after a spinal injury, on a plan to rename Skatepark West.
Jonsson, he said, an avid BMXer, played a key role as a young boy in the park’s design process, and was a regular user of the facility into adulthood.
“Matt Jonsson is an example of the power young people have to shape a community,” Gillingham said.
“He left us too early, but we can honour Matt’s legacy by renaming the skatepark in his memory.”
The park, located at Silver Avenue and Sturgeon Road, was set up in 2007 to offer a safe place for area youth to ride skateboards and bikes.
Connie Newman, a founding member of the Skatepark West Committee, said the early 2000s saw young people riding skateboards and BMX bikes on St. James streets.
“As a middle school principal at the time, I was really worried about student safety on their way to and from school,” she said.
“It was decided at a community meeting that a skatepark was needed in our area. Students had input into the design and the location. Matt Jonsson was a member of the design team along with his brother Cole.”
Gillingham said he’ll be bringing the proposal to rename the park as Matt Jonsson Memorial Skatepark to the Assiniboia community committee on May 3, and if it goes through the approval process, a renaming ceremony will take place later this year.