Despite Support, Skatepark Can't Get Rolling

A proposal to build a skateboard park in Marine Avenue Park has supporters of the activity excited, although the plan remains in the review stage and—as it has for decades—lacks serious funding.

Plans to rename the park and install new features  were recently expanded by a Parks & Recreation Commission Subcommittee to include a skatepark in an unused lot behind the baseball field. The site is appealing because it is far enough from nearby businesses and residences to keep noise disturbances to a minimum yet close enough to the community to draw local teens.

Before the plans go further, the City Council must review the proposal and grant the Parks & Recreation Department permission to explore the possibility of developing the park expansion.

Elise Johnson, a mother of three who lives in Manhattan Beach, remembers when a skatepark opened in Hermosa Beach 10 years ago. She was a volunteer with Parks & Rec at the time, and she and other residents expressed interest in a park for their kids.

"Skateparks are sprouting up in every city surrounding Manhattan Beach," she said.  "It's something the kids want a lot, but, as is often the case, kids don't have anyone on the city council who serves their needs."

Johnson was a skater herself, and now she often takes her eight-year-old daughter to the park in Hermosa Beach, where she is usually the only girl on a skateboard.

Idris Al-Oboudi, the Recreation Services Manager for Manhattan Beach, has been trying to build support for a local skatepark for nearly a quarter-century and isn't sure the city is any closer to actually building one.

"Now we're back to where we were 24 years ago when I started," he said. "Guess what the kids get? Nothing. Diddly fiddly." He says the skate park lacks the kind of heavy-hitting political support that it takes to get attention and funding for a project in Manhattan Beach.

"I'm supportive of skateparks if they are appropriately placed," Mayor Mitch Ward said on Friday. "And I've indicated that to the public many years ago."

The mayor said he was not aware of any current plans to bring a skatepark to Manhattan Beach and that any plan would have to go through the council before reaching him.

"Severe budget constraints" have stopped previous efforts to build a skatepark in the city, he said, adding, "If we can find a space, and maybe if it was privately funded, I would support it."

A 2005 assessment by the city put the cost of building a skatepark in Marine Avenue Park at more than $500,000. To raise that kind of money, Al-Oboudi said skatepark supporters need the help of organizations with political reach, like the local homeowners' association, the Downtown Manhattan Beach Professional Association or even Little League.  

Al-Oboudi has heard from skatepark supporters during his time in Parks & Rec, but he has not seen the kind of broad support and follow-through over the years required to get the project off the ground.

He said a skatepark wouldn't just be beneficial for local skaters, and hopes more people will get behind the movement.

"When you don't have skateparks in your city," he said, "... your whole city becomes a skatepark."

Al-Oboudi has seen similar projects to the one currently being considered. He recalled one proposal to build a teen center and skatepark near a middle school.  The project planners' ambition ultimately killed it.

"It became part of a grandiose plan, and because there was such a hefty bill, zero, nothing got done," he said. "Now the dream is on the shelf."

Originally, the main concern with constructing a skatepark was finding an ideal location. But now, there is consensus that Marine Avenue Park is the ideal location, and parents like Elise Johnson are tired of waiting.

It's time Manhattan Beach started reflecting the needs of the youth," Johnson said.  "Skateboarding is part of the surf culture here, and it's time [city government] start listening to the kids."

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