City Receives $100,000 for Skateboard Park

They’ve had few places to skate since city officials banned skateboarding here 12 years ago and nowhere to hide from police officers enforcing the law. But now skateboarders will no longer have to break the rules by setting up makeshift wooden ramps in the street or at public parks.

City Council members this week accepted a $100,000 check from the Ralphs Food 4 Less Foundation to build the city’s first skateboard park and finally give the skateboarders some space. The supermarket also donated $25,000 for other youth programs.

The city’s youth task force needs $150,000 to build the park but had raised only $30,000 with the help of local businesses. Shorecliffs Middle School chipped in $10,000 this week. Now plans are underway for a concrete ramp at San Gorgonio Park.

Josh Spencer, who was at City Hall for the ceremony, is a regular at the park. But his homemade ramps have not been welcome in the past, and he has a $311 ticket to prove it. “The [city] cracked down and took all our ramps,” he said.