The fence was taken down Sept. 8 at the McKinleyville skate park, fresh concrete ready to be used after years of permitting and fundraising work by volunteers. The 5,000 square feet of park has been constructed, about one-quarter of the total permitted area, and a grand opening will be held this weekend after 23 years in the making.
The McKinleyville Community Skatepark project was started by a grandmother around 2000. Pat Hassen saw kids needed a place to skate because law enforcement kept pushing them out of parking lots.
“Trying to get a place for kids to skate was very important. That’s why I got involved,” said Charlie Caldwell, who took over the project.
He said Hassen’s granddaughter, Ceira, and another volunteer helped jump in and support him to get this first section built, located next to Pierson Park.
The effort evolved over the years into the Humboldt Skatepark Collective, now working to build skate parks and BMX tracks across Humboldt County. There are community efforts to get new parks built in Fortuna, Willow Creek and Trinidad, he said.
“You walk through a lot of the challenges of doing something like this in the community, especially like McKinleyville, that’s unincorporated and doesn’t have funding for big projects like this,” he said.
The group has fundraised through other means — the then-called Tony Hawk Foundation, now the Skate Park Project, donated $10,000. Headwaters Fund gave $25,000, and Coast Central Credit Union gave a grant for an ADA sidewalk. The McKinleyville Area Fund also allowed for a last-minute expansion; “we went from about what would have been 3000 square feet to 5000 square feet with the extra funds,” Caldwell said.
He added that once the project got permits, grants were more readily available.
The current park has high-quality transition skating with “very good street obstacles” throughout the park, which Caldwell says can be used by newbies and experts alike.
Next for the group is more fundraising and a BMX project.
“We need a million dollars to build the rest of the park. So this grand opening is all about fundraising again, getting our bank account back up so we can do another section of the park,” he said.
According to the website, the project broke ground earlier this year at the Pony Express Chili Cook-off.
The event will be held at Pierson Park in McKinleyville on Saturday, with a ribbon cutting starting at 11 a.m. to thank the donors. It will then have a skate jam-style competition for best tricks, with everyone on wheels invited, including roller skaters, skateboarders and likely “scooter kids.” Three bands will be playing, Hudson Hound Dogs, Racket and Imperial Destructo. The event will also teach kids skate etiquette.
Sage Alexander can be reached at 707-441-0504.
