VENTURA SKATE PLAZA

This is the official MySpace for the Park Row Expansion Project, proposed by FunNotFame and accepted into the General Plan for the City of Ventura.

www.venturaplaza.org

A skate plaza is a unique type of skateboard park better described as a skateboarding area featuring traditional elements of the urban infrastructure including stairs, ledges and handrails, the same elements that attract modern skaters to heavily populated business districts causing property owners a great deal of lost sleep and anxiety. If Ventura skaters get their plaza, for which they worked over ten years, obscure concrete ledges in back of heavily trafficked supermarkets would instantly lose appeal.

Ironically, when local skaters met with Ventura city officials ten years ago on this same issue they were rather specific in what they asked for: not cookie-cutter cement skateparks but a “streetstyle courtyard” designed specifically for skateboarding, i.e., a plaza. At that time the skate plaza was just an innovative concept in the minds of idealistic Ventura teenagers but for undisclosed reasons the idea was abandoned.

The concept was later carried out by Rob Dyrdek, and VSIC successfully swayed the driving force behind Kettering’s skate plaza into seriously supporting theirs. After the first of two rejected grant applications from the Tony Hawk Foundation based on the fact that Ventura is not a low-income community, on December 17th, 2004, executive producer of the hit television series Rob & Big and world-class professional skateboarder Rob Dyrdek drove three hours from San Diego to back the VSIC proposal by offering a quarter million dollar match-funds donation through his 501(c)3 Skate Plaza Foundation, which unfortunately slipped through the cracks of city inaction.

To date almost one thousand people have signed the VSIC petition of request, and our 240-page feasibility study includes over 35 letters of support from notable groups such as Optimists Club International, the DC Skate Plaza Foundation, City of Ojai Parks and Recreation, Santa Cruz Skateboards, Las Posas Children’s Center, SITE Design Group of Phoenix, Dreamland Skateparks, Conejo Parks and Recreation, Powell Skateboards and local youth ministries in both Ventura and Oxnard.

If we want to keep Ventura’s children, shoppers and property owners out of harms way, the solution is plain and simple: our skate "tracks" need a makeover. Ventura’s own Gang Violence Strategy considers reaching out to at-risk youth a high priority for juvenile crime prevention. The simple act of building a better skatepark would show many at-risk kids that we care and that is immeasurable in and of itself. A first-rate skatepark has events and program potential, and supporters feel it would reduce police calls and skateboard damage while simultaneously restoring city repute in the eyes of youth. County neighbors like Santa Paula, Camarillo, Thousand Oaks and Oxnard have both far surpassed us in this arena and are already reaping the benefits. Conejo Valley Parks and Recreation Department holds family-friendly contests, demos and lessons programs at their local skateparks. Santa Paula’s DETOUR Program is a sort of skateboard-diversion program for at-risk youth that enjoys favorable results.

As the farmer’s markets, California Cup’s and recently renovated bike paths all demonstrate, it is painfully obvious that Venturans value roots, culture and recreation. “Ventura is a wonderful beach community. A large, professionally developed, concrete skatepark would be a major asset to the city and its citizens,” reminds Dr. White. Skateboarding is the literally the offspring of surfing and with all due respect to C Street the Ventura community asks that per their requests over a decade ago, the city council would draft another Ad Hoc Skatepark Committee to begin implementation of the Park Row Expansion Project, post-haste.

ADD US ESPECIALLY IF:

1. You are a skateboarder, citizen or any other type of organism that lives in Ventura and supports the rebuild
2. You are seriously willing to donate time, money or energy to this cause; if so message us and we'll get you started
3. You would come and skate the Ventura Plaza

Skateboarding is an extraordinarily healthy activity, and people of all ages and walks of life exercise using skateboards. It's also healthy for the community because it gives kids something to do that's fun and generally deters them from criminal behavior. But there's also a touchy side to skateboarding and that's the problems that can result when riders use high profile public spots to practice their moves. Local property owners are generally the ones who suffer the most direct loss, usually in the form of property damage and customer intimidation. Currently Ventura has three small satellite skate tracks but they are unsafe, ill-maintained and ineffective in deterring damage to public property.