Council asks JDAP to remove 2 Cantonment Street Woolstores openings from plans to keep more of the skate ledge

Skaters are fighting to save the “most important” section of a world-famous skating ledge from being lost in the face of the long-awaited redevelopment of Fremantle’s historic Elders Wool Stores. The skaters have garnered support from Fremantle council, which at a recent meeting voted to support a $110 million building renovation on the condition developers Human Urban remove two of six doorway openings to Cantonment Street from their plans. One could otherwise provide access to a future retail store and the other potentially to a cafe but Fremantle mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge suggested if people could instead access those spaces via the historic building’s lobby it would take away risk of shoppers and diners colliding with skaters. “I was seeking to balance the strong desire for the ongoing use of skateboards with the safety of the future users of the building,” she said. “I couldn’t see how having people step out of a shop immediately into an active skating area would be safe for anyone. If we’re going to all agree (as the developer did) that the ledge should be retained for skateboarders, then we need to ensure it is done in a way that is functional and safe.” But Human Urban development manager Kyle Jeavons warned closing off the two doors would “guarantee the failure” of Cantonment Street to become an inclusive, community locale into the future. Human Urban wants to redo the Wool Stores building as a seven-storey complex with 39 multiple dwellings and 174 units and a tavern, office, cafe and shopping spaces on the ground floor. The 100m-long ledge is a 24/7 skateboarding haven for locals and a must-visit for some of the sport’s biggest names, including Eric Koston and Mike Carroll. The ledge was built after the construction of the building in 1927 as a buffer for delivery trucks. Wool Stores Forever spokesman Zachary Tilghman revealed in his powerful plea that the section of ledge in front of one of those openings was “the most important part”. “It will have a detrimental effect on the international and local reputation and significance of the ledge,” Mr Tilghman said “We provided Human Urban with skateboarding use maps of the ledge and they had multiple site visits where we expressed in clear terms which portions of the ledge are important to us and which portions we were okay with losing. “It will be harder to and less enjoyable to skate there if we are even allowed to skate there at all in the future.” The skaters aren’t against against the woolstores redevelopment but Mr Tilghman told PerthNow he wouldn’t be able to stomach coming to Fremantle if the ledge was lost in the process. “The ledge for skaters is like the ocean for surfers, if we lose the ledge we lose everything, we don’t want to only use the skate park, that’s like asking surfers to only use a wave park, it’s too manufactured. “We have been skating here for as long as the building was a wool store, we have been the only users of the building for 35 years now. “We have gone through changes before, not as big as this, but we have adapted and we are willing to adapt again because that’s better than becoming a memory.” State planners will take into account the recommendation from Fremantle council but ultimately a development assessment panel will make the own call on any approval for the long-anticipated woolstores redevelopment, along with any associated conditions. Before Fremantle council settled on its recommendation, Spaceagency Architects founder Michael Patroni had “urged” councillors not to recommend the doorway closings. “Not having the two openings will severely put frustration upon the idea of this building engaging with the street and allowing the activities that are within it to spill out and become part of the wider precinct,” he said. Rowan White has been spearheading the Wool Stores Forever campaign and said even if the DAP dismissed the doorway condition, the skaters cause would not be over. Mr White is in the process of applying for heritage protection for the ledge and having it officially recognised as a place of cultural significance. The idea came after learning the Albany Snake Run skateboarding track which was built in 1976, had been heritage-listed in 2016 because of its community significance.