Skateboard Park

After spending more than 15 years fighting for a place to show off their kickflips and ollies, a group of Venice activists weren't about to sit back and let commercial promoters skate off with their work. So Warner Bros. Consumer Products and ASA Entertainment won't be inaugurating the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks' new $2.5-million public skateboard park at Venice Beach after all. The two companies last month announced that their Labor Day Supergirl Jam would be the premiere event at the new three-basin skateboard complex next to the Venice boardwalk near Windward Avenue.

Teenager Beau Farrar, who rides his skateboard at the city's temporary skate park nearly every day, is the sort of young Ojai resident the City Council wants to please. The 7,200-square-foot park next to Chaparral High School is one of the few places Beau and his friends can practice their skills without being chased away by police or merchants, who don't always appreciate boarders sliding down handrails or grinding across flowerpot ledges outside their stores.

Ventura police officers will hand out free passes to a local skateboard park in an effort to decrease trespassing and vandalism related to skateboarding in unauthorized or private areas. Police say they recognize skateboarding is a popular sport among the city's teenagers, but add that it often causes extensive damage to private and public facilities.

Santa Ana soon will begin construction on its first skateboard park, an alternative for teenage skateboarders to the busy streets, sidewalks and benches that they now are routinely disciplined for abusing. The city hopes to begin construction early next year after months of planning that also has involved teen skateboarders. The facility will be built inside Centennial Regional Park, near Fairview Street and Edinger Avenue.

The city is ready to crack down on people not wearing safety gear at L.A.'s only skate park. For more than two months, the city Department of Recreation and Parks has tried to coax skateboarders at the Encino park to wear helmets, kneepads and elbow pads as required under a city ordinance. Signs, threats, gentle pleading--nothing has worked to get the skateboarders to conform, officials say.

The city is ready to crack down on people not wearing safety gear at L.A.'s only skate park. For more than two months, the city Department of Recreation and Parks has tried to coax skateboarders at the Encino park to wear helmets, kneepads and elbow pads as required under a city ordinance. Signs, threats, gentle pleading--nothing has worked to get the skateboarders to conform, officials say.

Mark Mugica's skateboard is more than fun. It's more than a lifestyle. It's his wheels. Skateboarding is the 15-year-old's main form of transportation to and from school, he said. But it makes for a bulky companion during the day, as he lugs it from class to class at Cypress High School. Luckily for Mark, he has a principal who believes in the right to commute by board. And luckily for them both, a local inventor has an answer.

About 15 residents braved the elements to attend a town hall meeting Monday evening and discuss specific issues in a casual setting with city officials. Some were drawn to the meeting because it was sans television cameras. It was held at the Community Center without the glare of lights, the distraction of microphones and with council members and city staff clustered close to their constituents. "Without being on television, it's less intimidating," said Councilman Tim Keenan.