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Workers poured concrete Tuesday on Gardena's first and long-awaited skate park. The 8,000-square-foot facility will open in mid-March at Rowley Memorial Park, 13220 Van Ness Ave. It was first envisioned more than a decade ago and, by 2009, funding and plans were under way. "I think it's a good idea," said Mark Glass, who played basketball next to the construction site Tuesday. "Now skaters don't have to go all the way to Hawthorne." The park is near a large residential area, which initially caused problems for the project because some homeowners argued that it would be too noisy. But the City Council pushed through plans in order to encourage skaters not to ride on busy city streets, sidewalks and parking lots. The city contracted with Spohn Ranch Skateparks of Industry to design and build this park and another similar project at Arthur Johnson Memorial Park, in the southwestern corner of Gardena. That facility is set to be completed by the end of March. Together, the skate parks will cost about $500,000, which was allocated when plans were approved in 2009. Vince Onel, a designer at Spohn Ranch, said the company envisioned a modern urban-style area for Gardena's first skating enclave. "It's the perfect space where all the kids can finally have a place where they can safely and legally do what they love," Onel said. "The trend in skate parks is making them look like a naturally occurring urban environment. Skaters don't like to feel like they're sentenced to go to a confined space to skate." Skate park amenities were created at Spohn Ranch, and then trucked in to Gardena where they awaited placement on Tuesday. Amenities include staircases, benches, handrails and bannisters - all things that could be found in a typical downtown plaza. Colored concrete, sculptured designs and landscaping will make the park look attractive, Onel said. Work on a similar skate park at Arthur Johnson Memorial Park has begun but will accelerate once the one at Rowley Park is finished, he said. While both will have similar designs, they will each offer unique elements to skaters with "different features and flow patterns," Onel said. City Manager Mitch Lansdell said that, once the skate park at Rowley Park is completed, it will fit into the area where it is sandwiched between tennis and basketball courts. "Overall, it's going to be a really nice addition out there," Lansdell said. "It's going to fit in. And I know that kids from the neighborhood having been coming by asking when it's going to be done."
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Tuesday, March 13, 2012
New Skatepark in Gardena, CA opens TODAY!!! MARCH 20TH 2012
