Santa Monica skate park may be ready in one year
Santa Monica will finally get its skate park, but it will be miles away from the beach where modern skateboarding is said to have been invented.
The Santa Monica City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved building a $570,000 skateboarding facility at Memorial Park, which is at the corner of Olympic and 16th Street. And despite that the city is facing a $8 million revenue shortfall, officials already have set aside money to build the facility.
Some founders of the sport, which they say originated along the beach in the Ocean Park neighborhood, lobbied to have the facility built at Crescent Park, which is adjacent to the beach between Bay and Hollister Streets.
However, council members feel a beach location would heavily draw outsiders who would push out local residents from using it. Some also are concerned that a facility by the beach would require a long public input process that could drag on for years.
“Skateboarding is not a crime, but continually skateboarders are restricted from places where they can skate,” said Mayor Mike Feinstein. “We need to finally give people a place where they can go.”
Concerns over delaying a new park sparked officials from both the Recreation and Parks department and the city council to approve the current plan, though many would prefer to see it on the beach.
If the park was built at the beach, the city would need to get approval from the California Coastal Commission, which could cause long delays. However, both Santa Barbara and Venice Beach received approval within a year, officials said.
Councilmen Ken Genser and Robert Holbrook are concerned that putting the skate facility in Memorial Park will overcrowd an area that already has baseball fields, a playground and a gym.
However, Councilman Richard Bloom said the one patch of open space at the park where the playground will be relocated to make room for the skateboarders goes largely unused.
“By putting the skate park there, we are activating a dormant area,” he said. “It’s a patch of green area that is rarely used by anyone.”
Councilwoman Pam O’Connor argued building the skate park in Memorial Park will attract a lot of different age groups, which other parks do not do. Parents with multiple children can bring all their kids to the park, so while one plays baseball the others can skateboard or play on the swing sets, she said.
Skatepark supporters said they are not concerned where it is located as much as they are concerned that one actually gets built, after six years of asking for one.
3AA,“The kids that began this process with me are now in college and some others are in rehab, unfortunately,” said Heidi Lemmon, a skate park organizer. “Let’s get these kids off the streets and finally give them a place to skate.”
About a half dozen young skateboarders from Santa Monica showed up at the meeting to say they need a skate park.
“I just don’t want you guys to sit on these plans, so get to it right away” said Timo Schultz, 13. “I don’t want to be 25 and still waiting for a skate park.”
City officials said the planning and construction of the new skate park should take about one year. A special team of architects and contractors will be organized to design the facility.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 11, 2002. Read the original PDF.