Near the terminus of the new bike path along South Green Valley Road—at the entrance to Pinto Lake County Park—lies a construction site that, by the end of the year, will be Watsonville’s second skatepark.
It will also be the only one of its kind in the Watsonville area owned and maintained by Santa Cruz County.
Construction began in July. As of Sept. 30, crews were working on grading, bioretention drainage, formwork and steel coping installation.
The $1.4 million cost was funded entirely by the Santa Cruz-based Richard Novak Foundation, in partnership with County Park Friends.
Grindline Skateparks designed and is building the concrete skatepark. The company also built the skatepark in Seacliff. Santa Cruz County Parks will own, operate and maintain the facility.
The cast-in-place concrete park is intended for beginner, intermediate and advanced skaters. Grindline’s design uses a “Ladder of Progression,” offering features for different ability levels, and “organic flow,” which connects features so riders can move naturally through the park and develop their own lines.
Gavin Denike, a brand manager with NHS—the parent company of Santa Cruz Skateboards—said the “beginner-friendly” park, which will be about 8,000 square feet, will be the kind of place skater parents can bring their kids.
“Just kind of back and forth, always flowing and moving, rather than back and forth, get off your board,” he said. “And little features that hit as you’re flowing through this.”
Mike Eyre, who sits on the four-member Novak Foundation board of directors, added that it was also created with advanced skaters in mind.
“This is still going to be super fun,” he said. “Because it’s got that flow aspect that a lot of parks don’t have.”
The park, therefore, is suitable for a wide range of skating styles.
“It’s going to be fun,” he said.
Grindline, a company well known in the skateboarding community, has created parks across the U.S., Europe and Israel.
“They’re like the most notorious in the skateboard community, so everyone’s really stoked to get an official Grindline skatepark,” Denike said.
Eyre said he hopes the new park will give young people a recreational opportunity.
“And this is an underserved part of the county,” Eyre said. “And I’m hoping that all of these kids in all these neighborhoods are going to be thrilled once this is done and have a great spot to hang out and enjoy recreation opportunities, enjoy skateboarding, enjoy the community, enjoy the parks.”
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For information or to donate, visit countyparkfriends.org.
