A Lake Country teen has created a petition to try and save the FlowRider.
Jonathan Hintz, 17, is a flow-boarding champion who hones his skills on the H20 Adventure and Fitness Centre乌鸦传媒檚 flow-boarding machine.
The Grade 11 student at George Elliot Secondary School earned a bronze medal at the 2017 world flowboarding championships in Cancun, Mexico in November.
Last week, Kelowna city council decided to look into alternative options to use the space that houses B.C.乌鸦传媒檚 only FlowRider, a machine that creates artificial waves which allow users to ride a board.
Hintz created a asking city council to keep the machine, which has allowed him to practice three or four times a week, he said.
乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檓 posting my own thoughts and opinions to say to the city, 乌鸦传媒榠t may not service multiple people at one time while they乌鸦传媒檙e riding, but the people that show up repeatedly that fall in love with it, they乌鸦传媒檙e constantly coming back to ride and they love it,乌鸦传媒� he said.
But the machine has also been costly. A mechanical repair will cost $200,000, so city staff suggested looking at alternate options before deciding to repair it.
乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檙e at the point with the FlowRider that the mechanical system needs to be redone,乌鸦传媒� said director Jim Gabriel, with the city乌鸦传媒檚 active living and culture department.
Before replacing the expensive parts, Gabriel is asking 乌鸦传媒渁re there other uses that could be serving the broader facility as well?乌鸦传媒�
Gabriel said the FlowRider has also been out of service for a number of months in 2016 and 2017 because parts have to come from overseas.
乌鸦传媒淲e wanted a bit more time just to explore (different options,)乌鸦传媒� he said. A training pool was suggested to assist with swimming lessons and Aquafit.
Ridership on the FlowRider is also one at a time, so 乌鸦传媒渉ow long are you going to wait in line before you get your turn?乌鸦传媒�
Council voted to use up to $50,000 to research the costs of alternative options.
Hintz says with the petition, he wants the city to understand that people use and love the FlowRider. There are both locals and people outside of the city that use it, some who travel up to four hours to surf, he said.
乌鸦传媒淲e care about this, it乌鸦传媒檚 not just me乌鸦传媒� we have multiple people that really care about it. It draws a lot more people in than the city would imagine.乌鸦传媒�
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