Family and friends of Gage Bogart, the teen who died last year from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning, will build a memorial in his honour near the Drayton Valley skatepark.
“Gage loved the skatepark. BMX biking was his passion,” his mother Wendy Swap wrote in a letter submitted to the Drayton Valley town council.
Bogart, 17, was found unconscious in the driver’s seat of his vehicle on Dec. 21, 2017. He died in hospital on Christmas Day. Shaina Ridenour, 16, was declared dead after being found in the passenger seat of the idling car.
The RCMP had said that a faulty exhaust system component may have caused fumes to enter the vehicle cabin.
On Wednesday, the town council approved the request to erect a sculpture in the teen’s honour near the 4-S Skatepark in Drayton Valley’s Discovery Park, .
Swap’s letter described how Bogart helped to change the skatepark’s negative reputation by being a role model for younger kids.
“Year after year, he spent countless hours there, practicing his tricks, biking with friends, but also helping others,” she wrote.
Gage Bogart’s memorial will include a sculpture inspired by this picture of the teen. (Supplied by Town of Drayton Valley )
“There is nothing Gage would love more than to be a permanent part of the skatepark, even in death, just as he was a permanent part of the skatepark in life,” wrote Swap.
The sculpture will be inspired by a picture taken of Bogart at the skatepark, and will include a memorial plaque.
The town will cover the cost of the installation, estimated at $1,000.