Rain put a dampener on the official opening of Palmerston's new skateboard park and playground on Saturday, forcing the cancellation of a skateboarding demonstration.
The $96,000 facility on the Runbrake St reserve was opened by former East Otago Lions president Sylvia Mathias and the officer in charge of Palmerston police, Senior Constable Stefan Witehira.
The idea for the park came in 2008 from Jordan Blair, then 12, of Palmerston, who wrote to the Waitaki District Council asking for a new skateboard park to replace the town's obsolete wooden park.
The small East Otago Lions Club took on the project, which involved four years of planning and fundraising.
