The community is caring for Tecumseh Skatepark — we need the city to care too

Not long ago, the city made some improvements around the Tecumseh Skatepark that was part of a broader effort to clean up the space and make it more welcoming.

Not long ago, the city made some improvements around the Tecumseh Skatepark that was part of a broader effort to clean up the space and make it more welcoming. Among those changes was the addition of a thick ring of baseball-sized rocks surrounding the concrete bowl.

It didn’t take long before that particular decision started raising questions. Small rocks don’t stay put. They get kicked, picked up, and tossed around and at a skatepark, they quickly become a hazard. Within days, they were scattered across the riding surface. Some ended up on the playground side. Others made their way into the splash pad area. The rocks didn’t add to the park; they became something to work around.

Then came the vandalism. Two weeks ago, one of the floodlights was smashed. The damage wasn’t random, it was clear that the rocks had been used as tools to break the light, leaving shards of glass across the skatepark floor. First thing the next morning, I took photos of the broken light and surrounding debris and sent to the city. The message was simple: this is a problem. The park isn’t safe. The rocks need to be removed.

Every morning since, more rocks have shown up in places they don’t belong. Some are thrown, others just migrate across the pavement, but they keep needing to be cleared often by the same community members who already go out of their way to sweep, scrape off graffiti, and make the space usable.

About a week and a half after the vandalism, city staff arrived. Four workers and two trucks met with local skaters to assess the situation. There was care on all sides. People asked questions, took notes, tried to understand the scope of the issue. But no one could say what the next step was. No one on site knew who had the authority to remove the rocks or what could be done to prevent more damage.

And so, we wait.

The skatepark is part of a much larger community space. Families use the playground and splash pad daily. Kids move back and forth across the park. Parents keep watch. Teenagers practice tricks. It’s a cross-generational public space with its own rhythms and caretakers.

There’s a lot to be encouraged by. A community that shows up, day after day, to keep a public space functional and welcoming. A staff team that listens. What’s missing is the ability to move quickly and to identify a clear problem and remove the obstacle without waiting for it to pass through too many layers of approval.

This doesn’t need to go to council. It doesn’t require a public debate. It’s a safety issue that’s been clearly named by the people who use the park and acknowledged by the people who maintain it.

The city has a chance here to show that it values that relationship and to demonstrate what responsive, collaborative public service looks like. A chance to move quickly, communicate clearly, and fix something before it becomes a bigger problem.

The rocks weren’t meant to cause harm. But now that they have, the path forward should be simple. Remove them. Keep the space safe. And next time, consider inviting the community into the design process from the beginning.

They’re already doing the work.