Building Skateboarding - Interview with New Line Skateparks
New Line Skateparks has been active for 20 years and became the first skateboarder-led skatepark construction company in Canada. We caught up with Kyle Dion, President of New Line Skateparks and one of Make Life Skate Life’s monthly donors, to find out about their history and philosophy, and their motivation to support skateboarding worldwide.
© New Line Skateparks
New Line Skateparks operates in Canada, the US and abroad, has 80+ employees, and delivers 3 skateparks every month. What's the secret to your success?
New Line Skateparks was born out of community outreach and advocacy. We began as a small but vocal group of skateboarders trying to raise money and get skateparks designed and built properly in our own communities where we grew up. When we realized, at the time, there wasn’t a company set up in Canada that could do that we decided to start a business so that we could do it ourselves.
We’ve spent the better part of the past 20 years trying to bring together like minded individuals with bright minds and talented hands to create an amazing team. The end result is a dedicated team of passionate skateboarders, advocates, artists, designers and builders that work super hard every day to make things happen. A big secret to our success is the amazing team I get to work with every day.
But ultimately, I think it comes down to 20 years of simply trying to get it right the best way we know how. What we have discovered is a holistic approach to development that places the needs and desires of the community before our preconceptions of the park terrain itself. When approached in this way, the skateparks function as destinations that are inclusive, progressive and welcoming while still offering world-class skateable terrain. We want to allow opportunities for skateboarding to progress but more than that, we want to provide opportunities for communities to be healthy and thrive.
What's your take on building skateparks in countries where skateboarding isn't very developed?
Similar to the previously mentioned philosophy on development, it’s about balancing the needs of the communities with the possibilities of programming and progressing skateboarding in the region. We are honoured to get to work in the regions we do and approach each development with humility and open eyes in order to learn about the local culture and community needs. Again, we hope that the space not only functions as a skatepark but goes far beyond that to play a small role in addressing larger social issues through local programming, education and mentorship programs. That’s our goal for all of our projects at home or abroad but even more so for those in developing areas.
© New Line Skateparks
Do you think that building skateparks and building community go hand in hand?
Absolutely. You can’t have one without the other. Over the past 20 years we look back at all of the amazing relationships we have formed with communities across the globe and we can’t help but feel thankful. To now be in a position to look beyond skateparks themselves and get to work with organizations like Make Life Skate Life and others is a perfect testament to what is possible when like-minded people get to work together on common goals. The positive social change we see happening through the global skate community is inspiring and a movement we want to be a part of. The fact that we get to lend our expertise through something we are truly passionate about (skateparks) is just icing on the cake.
New Line Skateparks has signed up to Skate forward, our monthly giving program. What was your motivation to join and what makes you support organizations like ours?
In short, we believe in the mission of Make Life Skate Life and the work that is currently being done through the organization. From Iraq, Morocco, Jordan, Bolivia, India, Nepal, Ethiopia, Myanmar and Brazil, we are inspired that your programming and outreach can have such a wide-spread impact! We love the stories we hear coming out of your programs and the compelling spaces you have led the development of and want to do what we can to see it continue.
© New Line Skateparks
What are your future plans for supporting skateboarding?
As a company, New Line Skateparks has committed to donating a percentage of our profits every year to help social skate initiatives develop, grow and sustain themselves. Our mission as individuals and as a company is ‘Building Skateboarding’ which extends way beyond just the act of building a park and extends into building better, healthier communities. We work very hard to be successful and sustainable on the commercial side of skatepark building so that we can give back and share the love with underserved communities both locally and internationally.
We hope to get to continue doing what we love doing most. Designing and building compelling skateboard environments, meet and work with amazing people, be a part of the larger social skate conversation and support organizations like yours who are on the ground doing such important work. We want to continue to adapt to the needs of an incredibly diverse community of skateboarders worldwide and ensure the environments we create become spaces where individuals feel welcome and safe to participate in the activity they love.
Thank you for everything you do for skateboarding and for allowing us to be a part of your journey!
