Kristopher Campbell Memorial Skate Plaza

The Brandon Skate Plaza Group, in partnership with the City of Brandon, has successfully completed the development of a skate plaza in downtown Brandon. The plaza has seating areas, trees, and landscaping, that welcome non-active users who are there to watch participants. The location (the former site of the Prince Edward Hotel) has served as a cornerstone in the development of Brandon and the skate plaza will add to the rejuvenation of this location of the city. This is truly a community project with the benefits trickling down to many citizens in the City of Brandon and the surrounding area.

History & Selection of the Site

The skate plaza is the chance to marry the old with the new. Built on the corner of 9th & Princess at the old Prince Edward Hotel site, it commemorates the importance the railway has had on our history while providing a place for our youth to enjoy what it means to be young.

Remembering Our History

The design of the plaza builds on the design of the original hotel. The columns along with the perimeter mirror those of the original building while the spaces contained within the park will take on the names of the rooms that were once housed in the hotel. Heritage display cases will eventually be viewable throughout the park that will tell the history of not just the hotel, but the history of the railway in our community. This project promises to revitalize a once significant corner of Brandon's downtown area by providing not just the look back, but a look going forward.

A Unique Design

Hundreds of skateboard parks exist within Canada, but through consultation with the community, it was clear that this park needs to be unique. The historical significance of the site provides the chance to include a "theme" in the design. In researching the parks across Canada, this will be one of the first parks that will incorporate a "theme" into the design. It is anticipated that because of this unique approach, it will generate the interest that the Forks Plaza in Winnipeg has generated since its opening.

The youth of our community were clear in their desire to have the park recognize our heritage, that it be designed to be shared by all (not just the active skateboarding group), that it has elements for all levels of skill, and finally that it incorporates green space so that it had a feel of a park. To incorporate these different design aspects, van der Zalm + Associates Inc., in conjunction with Scatliff + Miller + Murray and New Line Skateparks Inc. were commissioned to develop the preliminary design. This team of experts provided the vision for the Forks Skatepark in Winnipeg and provided that same creativity to this project as can be seen in the design.

Celebrating Our Past While Viewing Our Future

In Brandon's Community Strategic Plan, as a community we stated our vision to be "Brandon will be a vibrant and collaborative community that builds upon successes to shape a solid foundation for the future." Part of our success as a community is in our understanding of where we have come from, in celebrating our history, and in learning how we can translate the challenges of the past into opportunities for the future. We recognize that our youth are our untapped potential. They will and are the key to our success in taking on the community's future opportunities.

A Meeting Place

Just as the Prince Edward, fondly remembered as the Prince "Eddie" was a local gathering place in our community, so too will the Skate Plaza. The design incorporates both open-air and covered seating areas along with green space and plantings so that spectators can feel comfortable taking in the amazing displays of athleticism that occur as part of the sport of skateboarding.

Skate Plaza Heritage (4.78 MB)