Foundry Park Skatepark and Playground Design Project

Project Description

Through the 2022 budget process, Orillia Council approved funding to complete the community consultation and design work required to explore the feasibility of constructing a new skateboard park and playground at Foundry Park, located at 255 West St. S. 

The City of Orillia has retained New Line Skateparks for the purposes of completing community consultation, design, and construction documentation for the potential skatepark and playground project. 

In order to engage the community and skatepark users the City will be hosting three separate workshops to evolve design ideas into a preferred design for the Foundry Park Skatepark and Playground. The first workshop was held on September 21, 2022 to introduce the project team and objectives and to provide an overview of the skatepark development journey. 

On December 14, a second workshop was held.  The presentation, workshop summary report, and survey results are below.

View the Community Workshop Presentation

View the Community Workshop Summary Report

View the Orillia Skatepark Open House Feedback Survey #2 Summary

Foundry Park Skatepark - Final Concept Design

The design process for Foundry Park Skatepark has been ongoing since 2022. The Final Concept Design shown here (dated June 2023) is the result of more than 12 months of planning and consultation, including (3) In-Person Community Workshops (held in September 2022, December 2022, and March 2023) and (2) Online Surveys. The (3) In-Person Workshops that were well attended with 50+ enthusiastic Community Members (including representatives from the Orillia Skateparkers organization) attending each session. With the In-Person Workshops and Online Surveys combined, feedback was gathered from more than 450 individual Community Members.

The Final Concept Design for Foundry Park Skatepark includes over 13,500ft2 total surface area. The main areas of the skatepark include:

The Flat Ground Plaza:  extends almost 55m (180ft) along the ORC building frontage. The terrain features include a series of Flat Ledges, Curbs, a Manual Pad and a Flat Rail - all aligned to provide alternating frontside/backside trick opportunities. The Plaza includes multiple access points from the adjacent (proposed) sidewalk separated with a landscape buffer. The Plaza includes a Drop-In Bank to the north and a Bank-Hip to the south. Most of the Plaza is flanked on the building side with an expansive 1.2m high Slappy Bank (and partial Brick Stamp) separating the lower plaza level from the higher elevation of the Bowl Deck.

The Drop Section: extends east/west in the design and connects to the Flat Ground Plaza with Bank-Hip feature to the south-east. The varied floor slab elevations create a smaller drop set (300mm high) and a slightly larger drop set (750mm high). The smaller feature set includes Down/Out Rail and Ledge features that are approachable from either side moving in either direction. The slightly larger feature set includes Down Rail and Ledge features and an Up-Gap.

The Bowl Section: is nestled between the Flat Ground Plaza and the Drop Section with the Bowl Deck at a higher elevation closer the south-east corner of the ORC building. The Bowl has been designed as a Right-Hand Kidney with a 4.5ft shallow-end and a 6.5ft deep-end with Diamond-Grind coping proposed.

A key objective was to create a strong relationship with the ORC building and find opportunities to enhance the functional aspects of the existing Site Plan, including the pedestrian experience, the arrival experience, and opportunities for drop-off parking and bus parking. The Final Concept Design includes a 2.4m walkway on the east side of the ORC building at the edge of the existing drive lane. This proposed walkway will improve pedestrian safety for those parking on the south end of the lot and walking to the main entrance. The “lay-by” area is also proposed to extend further south, allowing more space for bus parking and drop-off parking immediately south of the main entrance. The design intends to activate the linear space between the ORC building and the adjacent drive-lane, enhancing the pedestrian experience and creating amazing opportunities to integrate the Skate Plaza with the ORC building.

Community Workshop #3 - March 22, 2023

On March 22, 2023, the third and final workshop was held. Read the full news release for more information.

Final Preferred Concept Designs

For questions about the Foundry Park Design Plan project or community engagement opportunities, please contact the Manager of Park Planning and Development in the Development Services and Engineering Department at 705-325-2060 or jmcmullen@orillia.ca. 

Please note:  We attempt to make all online documents accessible, however some documents may not meet all AODA Accessibility requirements.  If you require assistance or communication support, please contact Development Services and Engineering at 705-418-3226.