An injury allegedly sustained at an East Vancouver skateboard park is at the heart of a suit filed in BC Supreme Court against a Langley-based landscape architecture firm.
Plaintiff John Raimondo filed suit April 23 against Van der Zalm and Associates Development Consulting, Inc. According to the suit, Van der Zalm and Associates designed and constructed a skateboard park, nicknamed “the Bowl,” at Kensington Park.
Raimondo is seeking damages for injuries he claims he sustained in 2010, at the age of 46, when he attempted to skateboard the Bowl.
The suit claims that the incident occurred when Raimondo attempted to skate into the Bowl, “when the wheels of his skateboard caught an unmarked drainbox which was not marked or visible from the top of the Bowl and which caused the plaintiff to lose control and sustained [sic] serious injuries.”
According to the court document, those injuries included a broken arm, hip and pelvis; a concussion; and soft tissue injuries to his neck, back and shoulders.
The suit alleges that the accident occurred because the defendant’s negligence in:
•failing to mark the drainbox;
•failing to warn the plaintiff or the City of Vancouver that the drainbox in the Bowl was not marked and posed a hazard to users of the Bowl; and
•failing to see that the plaintiff would be reasonably safe while skating in the Bowl.
Raimondo is seeking damages for pain and suffering, medical expenses, and lost wages and earning capacity.
None of these allegations has been proven in court. •
