Belong is what happens when a dead building gets a second life.

Set inside the former Rocky Point Taphouse in Port Moody, Belong is an indoor skatepark and youth-focused gathering space built to give young people somewhere real to go. Not just to pass through, but to skate, make things, meet up, put on events, and be part of something local.

The project came together through local effort, volunteer labour, artists, and youth involvement. That is why it feels lived in instead of packaged.

Talk community See Belong

Why it matters

Consistent, climate-resilient youth space is rare. In the Tri-Cities, it matters even more.

Belong fills a gap that outdoor parks and managed municipal schedules cannot solve on their own. It is not just a lounge, and it is not just a skatepark. It is one of those rare indoor spaces where skating, art, music, events, and hanging out can all live under the same roof without feeling forced.

That matters in the Tri-Cities, where weather can shut things down fast and there are not enough low-barrier places for young people once the rain starts or the region gets too expensive and too managed.

Why covered space matters here
In a place like BC, cover is not a luxury add-on. It keeps routines alive, protects the build, and gives young people somewhere to keep showing up when the weather turns.

What it holds

More than a skatepark, without pretending to be everything.

The park is the anchor, but the wider idea goes beyond obstacles alone.

Belong Youth Centre bowl and street transition area viewed from above

Indoor parkTransition and street

A park with real range

The terrain has enough variation to feel like a place people can actually spend time in, not just tick off one feature and leave. That alone gives the space more life.

Belong Youth Centre wallride and transition corner detail

DetailTexture and edge

Built with feel, not just function

The details matter. Materials, corners, transitions, and how lines connect all change whether a space feels alive or dead. Belong has enough personality to avoid the dead version.

Belong Youth Centre stairs and ledge detail with lighting

Street detailUse and atmosphere

Not polished into nothing

The space still carries texture, contrast, and a bit of roughness. That is a strength. It helps Belong feel like a real place shaped by local energy instead of a generic rec-room buildout.

Why this work matters to OLOVA

Because projects like this do not happen by accident.

Good youth projects do not usually fail because nobody cares. They fail because momentum slips, the space gets misread, or the idea never gets clear enough for other people to rally around. Belong is a strong local example of what it looks like when a project gets enough vision, enough work, and enough people around it to actually move.

Vaughan’s role here included park layout design in SketchUp, Twinmotion renders, hands-on building labour, and a significant portion of the electrical work. That is what real involvement looked like on this project.

What made it move

A real building with street presence instead of another hidden room
Indoor skate space that can hold daily use
Volunteer energy and local backing
Art, music, and hangout potential beyond skating alone
A clear youth focus without sanding the culture down

Belong on film

The place lands differently once you see it moving.

Photos prove the build. Video shows the room, the pace, and the feeling of the place.

Video

Belong Youth Centre

This clip gives a better sense of the atmosphere than stills can on their own. The park, the wider room, and the social energy all come through faster once it is moving.

Local proof

Belong shows what community backing looks like when it is real.

Not theory. Not a future concept. A place people can actually walk into, use, and come back to.

Belong Youth Centre flat bar and ledge zone

Street zoneEveryday use

Small details, real use

A place becomes believable through the everyday stuff. The rail, the ledge, the route through the room, the way one section flows into the next. Those are the details that make people come back.

Belong Youth Centre wide main hall with projection wall and ramps

Culture spaceMore than skating

A room with a wider social life

The projection wall, art, open floor, and mixed-use feel all help the place breathe. It reads like a youth space with culture in it, not a skatepark trying to bolt culture on afterward.

Belong is local proof.

A real indoor youth and skate space in Port Moody, designed by Vaughan and built through local effort by people who actually care about what a place like this can do.

vneville@olovatrading.ca