Local skateboarders thrilled with opening of new Nipomo skate park
NIPOMO, Calif. -- The opening of the long-awaited Nipomo Skate Park has been a huge hit for local skateboarders, who have packed the new facility the past three days.
The park, which is located in Nipomo Community Park adjacent to the Nipomo Library, finally opened for use on Friday.
"This weekend was super packed," said skateboarder Owen Slater. "There was hundreds of kids from all around the county and Nipomo, and it was so special, just a special moment to see everybody out here. Couldn't be happier myself."
The opening came after more than a decade of planning, which initially started out as a grassroots effort by local skaters to build a permanent facility.
Slater's father Tom Slater, a teacher at nearby Mesa Middle School, was the driving force behind the effort to build the park.
The movement to create a permanent facility began with a group of skaters in the Nipomo Skate Club selling t-shirts.
Owen Slater said the group initially raised just a little bit of money, but it was the start of what eventually became a years-long campaign to raise enough money to build the park.
After many years of work by both Slaters and many others, San Luis Obispo County was finally able to secure the money to fund the project.
The total cost of the park was $3.5 million and ran much higher than originally anticipated, but was secured through a variety of sources.
"To finally getting my wheels on the ground after 10 years of planning plus, it's just such an emotional experience," said Owen Slater. "I can't stop looking at it honestly. It's just so beautiful and it's just been so much hard work and effort and time and everything and it's hard to put into words honestly. Thank you to everybody who put in some much work time and effort to planning, designing and going to meetings and raising awareness and everything, and it's a super emotional moment and I'm super stoked for the kids and I couldn't be happier."
Construction on the park began about a year ago. Over the past several months, anticipation has been building as the park neared completion.
Once fencing came down around noon on Friday, the park was almost immediately filled by skateboarders, BMX bikers and scooter riders.
"Once the word got out, and a lot of people got on the phone and started calling their friends, and this is the result," said park supervisor Don Melin. "It's just been constant use, which is what we were waiting for. The anticipation was there."
Throughout the weekend, hundreds of kids of all ages and older riders too, took turns checking out the park, which features multiple ramps.
"I'm pretty excited because I think it's just fun and I've been waiting for a very long time for it to open," said young skateboarder Eliana Dean. "It's just really fun because I'm not the best skateboarder, but I can't wait to learn with an actual skate part here."
Melin said no major issues were reported through the first three days of use, although some in the community are concerned about the lack of fencing along Tefft Street, which is located just several feet away from the southern edge of the park.
"There's going to be some bugs to work out. We knew that. It's just like any park," said Melin. "The users come in and they kind of dictate how things are going to work and of course we want to keep safety in mind, but overall, it's been pretty smooth. We are going to see how things play out over the next couple of weeks and make decisions based on that and see where we're at, see what's working and what's not, and then change direction as we need to with it."
An official grand opening of the Nipomo Skate Park is scheduled for Saturday, May 6.
