Skatepark Opens at Rec Center

A festive atmosphere surrounded opening ceremonies for a portable skatepark on the resurfaced outdoor basketball courts at Palisades Recreation Center Sunday afternoon, the culmination of a four-year volunteer effort spearheaded by Huntington Palisades resident Susan Nash. “I’m happy. I’m relieved,” said Nash, an attorney whose 14-year-old son, Michael, is a skater. “Just watching all these kids have so much fun makes all of our efforts worth it. It feels like this was meant to be.” The ceremony started with brief speeches by Nash and Rec Center Director Cheryl Gray, a presentation of checks by Debbie Dyner-Harris (representing City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski) and the Palisades Rotary Club, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Then the real fun began, as dozens of local skaters and rollerbladers, clad in helmets and pads, took to the ramps. The kids also enjoyed chowing down on In-and-Out burgers, participating in a raffle for hats, T-shirts and boards donated by PaliSkate, Grind King and Slide Angle and listening to live music by Altered (a group consisting of Corpus Christi students and skaters Matt Lamb, Nick McCormack, Leo Rosetti and Sean Vinnedge). “My friends and I have been waiting for this for a few years,” said 13-year-old Corey Rasmussen, a 7th-grader at Corpus Christi. “I’ve been to Skate Street in Ventura, Vans in Orange County and a few others. This one is good because it’s so smooth.” “Yeah, it’s pretty fun,” added 8-year-old Wylie Beetley, who goes to Marquez Elementary. Gray announced that the skatepark is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays and 3:30 to 7 p.m. on Fridays. Beginning in March, it will be open from 4 to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays. Sunday’s event was free, but normal park admission will be $2 a day or $50 for a yearly pass. “This is all the work of Susan,” said Erica Simpson, owner of PaliSkate on Swarthmore. “I’ve given them advice along the way but I know the kids are totally excited about this. I think it’s pretty cool because it appeals to a lot of different ages.” Having just as much fun were the skaters’ parents and families, many of whom arrived with cameras and camcorders to catch their kids hanging ’10’ off of five-foot high birms and sliding atop narrow balance beams. “I was totally for it,” one parent said. “I have an 8-year-old and I felt the Huntington Palisades opposition was totally unfounded. This is a community of activity. To have something like this in a safe area, where parents can drop their kids off, is just great.” Nash originally lobbied for a permanent facility on the opposite end of the park in a space behind the south playing fields, but that proposal was scuttled by threatened litigation. “I was disappointed initially, but if we had ended up with that [facility] there would’ve been a lot of opposition to it. This is somewhat of a compromise but it’ll still be supervised whenever it’s in use and the equipment is state-of-the-art.” Including donations from well over 100 residents, the Palisades Skate Fund headed by Nash received large contributions on behalf of many Palisades business and service clubs, including Coldwell Banker, American Legion, Palisades Lions Club and the Palisades-Malibu YMCA. Thus far, the fund has received $60,000 to pay for the equipment and the cost of hiring a supervisor for three years. “So many people have been so supportive,” Nash said. “People like Bob [Lutz] and Mary [Elizabeth Horan] who have given their time and money. Of course, Erica from PaliSkate has been great and so has [Park Advisory Board member] Mike Skinner. He really went to bat for this the same as he did for the ball fields.” True Ride, Inc., a Minneapolis-based company that made the equipment used at the Rec Center, has built over 100 permanent skateparks and provided portable equipment and installation for numerous multi-use facilities. Coincidentally, its founders Dave and Greg Benson have a skateboarding nephew, Jack, who lives in the Palisades. At noon, Termite and PaliSkate team members did a demo of high-flying moves and stunts that drew cheers from the crowd. “This is pretty nice,” said 12-year-old Termite skater Hanna Zanzi of Westminster. “Our team manager told me about it, so I decided to come. I like grinding and this is a good park for that.”