The Lumberjack

Issue date: 9/26/07 Section: Community

"Did they have skateboards when you were young?" 9-year-old Tristen Green asked his father as he balanced himself on the 3-foot-tall wood fence that separated the grass from the sidewalk at Cooper Gulch. Jason Green laughed and told his son about way back then, and lent a shoulder to Tristen in case he lost balance.

The Greens, of Eureka, were one of the families who showed up to support the Eureka skate park groundbreaking ceremony at Cooper Gulch in Eureka, Calif. Green, who has skateboarded for 23 years, said it has been a long time haul the first community meeting about the park eight or nine years ago.

"Everyone's been waiting for this moment," he said.

The City of Eureka committed $175,000 in state park bond funds to the project, but the funds were almost lost. When Jeff Leonard joined the city council in the fall of 2002 there was a lack of funding to build the park, estimated to cost $450,000.

The park still needed over $200,000 and faced an expiration date on the bond money. Jan Bulinsky, a Cal-trans employee and concerned community member with a teenage son worked with Leonard for an extension on the bonds, which was granted until the end of 2008.

Jim Raith, Eureka, owner of Jim Signs, a local signage company in Eureka is one of the donors. "It's a very accessible sport and a sport that you can participate in for life," he said.

Noah Obanks, 15 of Willow Creek, was excited about the design of the park. Obanks said that the Arcata Skate Park is cool, but it gets old.

"This park has better obstacles, more challenges, and bigger stuff," he said.

Justin Boyes and the skate park design committee worked with pro-skate park architect Zach Woumhoudt to redesign the park. They worked to provide young skaters with a place to learn and progress, and for advanced skaters a place to practice, he said.

There are community members who voiced concerns about the park, and opposed it. Leonard admitted that some taxpayers are scrupulous about where their dollars go. These people told Leonard that even if he does get the park built, it would have to be maintained. Opponents also worry about kids hanging out there and participating in illegal activity.

When Leonard spoke at the groundbreaking he reiterated an idea that has come up at other council meetings throughout the state.

"If your city doesn't have a skate park, then your city is a skate park," he said.

Justin Zabel, the general manager of Mercer Fraser, donated equipment and labor for the excavation of the skate park site. Zabel and his company knew that they took a leap of faith with their donation. It is the equivalent of 20 percent of the cost for the entire project. "In this community, when people come together things get done," he said.

Enthusiastic people who wanted to make a small contribution could buy a ceramic tile and decorate it, for the "mile of tile" to be placed in the cement border around the park.

Debbie Holton, a teacher at the Blue Ox School in Eureka, and her 13-year-old son hoped that BMX bike riders would also be able to use the park. They found signs that designated the park for skateboarders and rollerbladers. The Arcata Skate Park doesn't allow bike riders either. Holton saw how long this park took to get off the ground and she supported it, but there are a lot of disappointed BMX bike riders, she said.

Leonard said that the Eureka parks and recreation division will run the skate park and they will want it to serve the widest possible use. He reminded the crowd at the groundbreaking that baseball was once a street sport called stickball. "Those kids might have been seen as hoodlums at one time." said Leonard, "But it was support like this that built stadiums all over the country."

Heather Brewer can be reached at hib4@humboldt.edu

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