"Sidney By the Sea" may be seen as having a "street cred" problem, but Town officials say the skate park isn't the place for graffiti.
Recently there has been criticism of the Town's decision to ban graffiti in Sidney's new skate park at Tulista. Some say graffiti is part of skate culture, and that some don't appreciate self-expression and creativity, particularly amongst our youth.
But Town staff say those who design and build skate parks, many of them skaters themselves, say graffiti and the paint used on some skate park surfaces can actually create a slick sheen making it more dangerous and hampering a skater's depth perception. They say serious skaters may in fact avoid graffiti painted parks for that reason.
The Town also says once graffiti is established, it can be very hard to control tagging, which must be removed by power washing and chemical treatments.
It says as such, there are other ways to appreciate expressions of art, perhaps with a dedicated graffiti wall.