AN application to convert a historic chapel into an indoor skate space and cultural hub has been gaining positive comments from Islanders.
If plans are approved, St Ouen’s Methodist Church, which was built in 1871, would be transformed, with ramps installed and a mural painted on the walls and ceiling.
The site would be managed by local charity Skate Space.
A total of 68 Islanders have so far responded to the planning application, many of them local skateboarders and those living in the area – all in support of the application.
Mark Richardson, who said he had been skating for 35 years, commented that the new skate park at Les Quennevais was ‘the best park that I’ve been to’ and that an indoor facility would allow people to skate despite rainy weather.
Other comments came from local residents, who have seen the church building become disused.
Hayley O’Donoghue, who said she passed the building often, wrote: ‘Making this into an area for the youths is a brilliant idea.’
A total of £5,000 of government money has been given to the charity to clean and paint the inside of the church, on Route de Trodez. Skate Space project motivator Natalie Mayer has previously said that the funding was ‘a really positive step for the project’.
