Big Bear makes skateboarding a reality at Sugarloaf park

  In late October of 2007, the kids of the Big Bear Valley finally had a place to go to enjoy their skateboards.  Thanks to the Deptartment of Parks and Recreation, a portion of the tennis courts at the park in Sugarloaf were done away with and a first class skateboard park was built in it's place.  On November 20, 2007, the kids took a break from skateboarding to show support for skate parks in the Big Bear Valley.

The following was recently reported in the Big Bear Grizzly. 

A group of skateboarders attended the Big Bear Valley Recreation and Park District advisory commission meeting to respond to media coverage regarding damage at Sugarloaf Skate park. “The park is fantastic,” said Dan Miller, who attended the meeting with his son, Toby. “I wish the newspaper would write about how good it is instead of the repairs.”

B Miller said he was pleased that there is now a place for kids to skateboard. He suggested the addition of lights so the park can remain open longer. “I’ll help raise money to expand that park,” Miller said.

Andy Burleson of Sugarloaf echoed Miller’s support. “I think it’s great,” Burleson said. “The cracks aren’t a problem. The only real problem about it is that it’s too small.”

Sugarloaf resident Bob Ybarra was the first to speak during public forum. He asked if the park district has re-evaluated the cost of maintenance.

Ybarra also asked about supervision of the park, stating that several skaters refuse to wear safety equipment. “Was there ever any discussion to have the Skate park supervised for the first several weeks to set a tone?” Ybarra asked.

Park district director Reese Troublefield explained that signs that are placed at the park as required by the county. The park is a skate-at-your-own risk facility because of liability issues. “In my opinion, we would never have been able to open the park had we chosen to supervise it,” Troublefield said. Supervising the facility means the park district assumes liability responsibility.

Roman Vasquez, who has been a Skate park advocate since he was a student at Big Bear High School, also attended the meeting. Vasquez downplayed the damage issue raised by Ybarra. “There’s nothing really big about it,” Vasquez said. “They got right on it when it happened.”

Vasquez also made a plea for the construction of more skate parks for the Valley. Because of the small size and the large number of small children using the park, it makes it difficult for the older skateboarders to slide. Using the Community Church by the Lake parking lot, once a haven for skateboarders, is no longer an option, he said. “The cops are kicking us out of there now that there is a Skate park,” Vasquez said.

Pastor Don Foor of Community Church by the Lake, who attended the meeting, addressed that issue. The church allowed kids to skateboard in the parking lot because there wasn’t any other place to do it legally, Foor said. “I’m sorry to hear the Sheriff’s Department is running you off at night,” Foor said. “We didn’t ask for that.”

Foor said the kids who skateboard at the church have always been responsible. “They actually police the parking lot,” Foor said. “Skaters aren’t ruffians. They just want a smooth place to skate. This is the culture of our kids. We need at least two more parks.”