A lot of you may well be wondering what on earth happened to the Pump Cage this summer. And with just cause, too! I think it's safe to say that we've had a little more than our share of disruption over the last two months.
Just to bring you up to speed, back in July, a week before the schools ejected all their pupils for six weeks, someone decided it would be fun to try and burn down our skatepark. We don't know why. Anyway, it was a pretty weak attempt considering the amount of available fuel - it is a wooden skatepark, after all.
After failing miserably to get anywhere with ancient man's favourite combustible, they decided plastic might support their cause better. And it did! The bin bags went up first, then the portaloo. That was when the fire really got going. It reached such a high temperature that some of the concrete on the pier supporting the Mancunian Way cracked off in large chunks, leaving what looked liked a kind of baghdad-style, bombshell crater on the pier.
Understandably, the Bridges Department were quite upset. They asked us to move the skatepark two metres away from their piers, to allow them better access and perhaps also to reduce the chances of more pier damage in future. This isn't a cheap request, though. Our park doesn't slide along on runners, unfortunately. We needed to redesign half of the skatepark (see poorly drawn picture above).
By the end of the summer holidays, Manchester City Council had kindly agreed to pay for the necessary changes that would allow the Cage to reopen. These are now underway. Fearless began work last Tuesday and are well on their way to completing the new design and it looks amazing! I can't wait to skate it. The estimated opening date is Monday 29th September. See you there!
