New Montreal plaza is a skate spot like no other in Quebec, bringing the sport back to its roots | CBC News

Louka Thériault has a habit of getting up at 7 a.m., scarfing down breakfast and heading out to one of Montreal’s skate parks to spend the day perfecting his skills.

Now the 19-year-old has a new spot to put those skills to the test — a place that provides all the challenges of skating urban furnishings, without the hassle of being chased away by security or police.

It’s called Montreal Plaza and it’s vastly different from a traditional skate park. Rather than ramps, quarter pipes and rails, it has the feel of a public square with granite ledges, steps and blocks.

Unlike most public squares, however, every centimetre of the plaza was carefully designed by skateboarders for skateboarders.

“It’s my first time here and I love it,” said Thériault.

Back in 2007, Montreal opened a skate park under the Jacques Cartier Bridge at the corner of De Lorimier Avenue and de Maisonneuve Boulevard, but right away it was rejected by the skateboarding community.

“I skated here before when it was called Tomato Plaza,” said Troy Courtney, a born-and-raised Montrealer who has been skateboarding for 17 years.

“The skate park was all going inwards. So everybody was running into each other at the bottom.”

Skaters have spoken out against it for years, saying it lacks the design influence of those who will actually be using it, making it unusable.

So it was largely ignored, collecting more graffiti, litter and loitering than sweet summer memories of landing kickflips in the shadow of an iconic bridge.

That’s all changed. The new plaza was built in collaboration with the Association Skateboard Montreal (ASM).

Local park designer Charles Deschamps was called in to ensure the park provides a unique, street-style experience right in the heart of the city.

The ASM says the design is inspired by world-famous skate spots like the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona or Love Park in Philadelphia.

And just like these famous spots, Montreal has a few of its own. The Olympic Stadium and Paix Park gained recognition on the global skate scene back in the day.

These famous skate spots, though they weren’t built for the sport, ultimately put modern skateboarding on the map in the 90s and 2000s.

“To highlight the street background of Montreal skateboarders, the new Montreal Plaza will mostly consist of smooth granite ledges,” the ASM says on its site.

“The major difference being that you will never get kicked out of the plaza for skating its ledges!”

The new plaza is surrounded by colourful landscaping, complete with plants, trees and flowers. There’s a drinking fountain for those who need to cool off and it’s not far from the Papineau Metro station.

The city invested more than $2.7 million in the plaza, according to the ASM’s website. However, Montreal officials refused to give any information to CBC News before the plaza’s official inauguration on June 28. City officials also ordered the ASM not to talk to the media until then.

But Nico Ewens isn’t waiting around for the official opening.

He’s among the dozens of skaters who have been hitting the new spot since construction wrapped up earlier this month.

Ewens is originally from Magog, Que. The 22-year-old said he has been skating off and on since he was eight but has been more serious about the sport since he moved to Montreal a few years ago.

“It’s my first time skating it and I love it,” he said on Wednesday. “The ground is smooth. Everything is nice. It’s close. You can skate with some homies and have fun.”

Courtney said the design is reminiscent of skating in the early 2000s, long before skate parks became mainstream.

“Skaters appreciate this because it brings you back to the roots,” he said. “It’s awesome.”

Mathieu Chouinard, who lives in Longueuil on Montreal’s South Shore, said he appreciates the feel of slapping his board on granite and grinding a solid ledge in the new plaza.

“It’s more adapted to the street style of skating,” he said. “I feel like every major city should have a similar park.”

He said cities are investing in devices, known as skatestoppers or skate deterrents, that prevent skaters from skating on urban infrastructure.

Instead, cities should be investing in building places that welcome skating, encouraging the sport and giving skaters a welcoming place to just hang out, Chouinard said.