New Orange Mall Ready to Roll With a Skate Park

By PATRICE APODACA

May 8, 1998 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Aiming to cash in on the popularity of skateboarding and in-line skating, an ambitious retail and entertainment center planned in Orange will include what’s being billed as the nation’s largest and most technically advanced skate park.

Shoemaker Vans Inc. announced Thursday that it has begun construction on the skate park at The Block, a $165-million mall being built on the site of the former City Shopping Center by Mills Corp., the developer of the enormous Ontario Mills shopping center.

The 46,000-square-foot skating facility, due to open in late November, will have 34-foot ceilings and 6,000 square feet of outdoor space. It also will feature an 80-foot vertical ramp, a 20,000-square-foot street course, and two skating areas that resemble empty swimming pools.

“We see this as a very exciting extension of our retail operations that should be very positive for both the Vans brand name and our bottom line,” said Gary Schoenfeld, chief executive of Santa Fe Springs-based Vans.

The skate park, which the company hopes will be the first in a nationwide chain, takes what have largely been street-based sports to a new level. Skate parks are primarily mom-and-pop operations or run by municipal parks and recreation departments.

The decision by a well-known corporation to invest in skate parks is a major step for skateboarding and skating, which are struggling to be recognized as legitimate sports, industry experts say.

“It strikes me as a wonderful thing,” said Gil Clark, executive director of the International In-Line Skating Assn., noting that a lack of facilities has driven skaters to use public and private property. That has led to conflicts with property owners and concerns over safety. “Skate parks solve all those problems,” he said.

A new state law that went into effect Jan. 1 exempts cities and counties from being sued for injuries in skateboarding parks by anyone 14 and older. The high cost of liability insurance or the risk of going without it had kept entities from building skate parks, said Assemblyman Bill Morrow, sponsor of legislation.

There’s a huge demand for skating facilities, Clark said, because there are an estimated 8 million skateboarders and 30 million in-line skaters in the nation.

However, Clark said, indoor sports facilities are expensive to build and operate, and making a profit might prove difficult.

The project also marks another step in the transformation of North County’s retail and entertainment scene.

Some analysts are concerned that the large buildup of projects in the area could result in a glut of entertainment venues.

Another large project is underway, and three more are planned. The largest is Sportstown Anaheim, a proposed shopping and entertainment complex, which will include a giant indoor snowboarding park on 40 acres of city-owned land near Edison International Field.

Another outdoor mall, Pointe Anaheim, is planned for a parcel of at least 15 acres, which would displace the Melodyland Christian Center. That project hasn’t been finalized, but retail consultants say it could prove to be stiff competition for The Block.

Another megaplex, Century Theatres’ 25-screen project in Orange, opened last year, and a 25-screen theater in Anaheim is planned by Pacific Theatres.

Neal Lyons, senior vice president at Vans, said the skate park is envisioned as a magnet for families. The park will have facilities designed for everyone from professionals to beginners, and will include a large, free mezzanine area for spectators. Prices haven’t been determined, he said, but memberships will be offered.

The park also will have a shop and an arcade, and will host skateboarding competitions. If the park is successful, Vans hopes to build others, including one in Florida.

The new skate park marks Vans’ return to its Orange County roots. Thecompany was founded in Orange in 1966, and once employed as many as 2,000 workers there. In 1995, it closed its manufacturing plant, laying off about 1,000 employees, and shifted production elsewhere. The following year it moved its headquarters to Santa Fe Springs.

For years, Vans was known for its sturdy canvas shoes. But as its popularity waned, the company encountered financial troubles. In recent years it has remade itself into a youth-oriented marketer of athletic and casual footwear and has proved adept at staying in tune with its customers by sponsoring an extreme sports tour and supporting professional skateboarders.

Despite its cool, somewhat anti-establishment image among adolescents, Vans is a financially sound, conservatively managed company, said analyst John D. Olinksi at Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles.

Its shoes are sold by mainstream shoe retailers and department stores, as well as in 95 company-owned stores. In the nine months ended Feb. 28, Vans’ profit rose 19% to $9.2 million and its net sales grew 18% to $141.7 million, while many other athletic shoe companies have experienced little or no growth.

Olinksi said that while Vans wouldn’t be building a skate park if it didn’t think it could make a profit, the parks primarily would be a means of building greater name recognition.

“Their first priority has been to promote the brand,” he said. “They’re going to where the kids are.”

Larry Siegel, Mills’ chairman and chief executive, said the skate park fits in with the innovative and eclectic theme of The Block. The mall, which will be anchored by a 30-screen AMC theater, also will have a Virgin Megastore, Alcatraz Brewing Co., a Graham Central Station nightclub complex and other specialty shops.

Leases have been signed for more than half of the 800,000-square-foot center, which will have 120 tenants when it opens in late November, Siegel said.

The name was chosen to connote “the great shopping block experience,” he said. Siegel said the center will have “more lights than any place west of Las Vegas.”

“You have the same shopping experience every 10 or 12 miles,” Siegel said. “What we try to do is provide the customer with differentiation and a reason to drive past others and come to us.”

Based in Arlington, Va., Mills develops malls nationwide. The hugely successful Ontario Mills, which opened in late 1996, attracted 17 million visitors last year, more than Disneyland. Siegel expects about 12 million people to visit The Block in its first year.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Block at Orange

The new outdoor mall, with an emphasis on entertainment and dining, will feature nightclubs, restaurants, sidewalk cafes and coffee shops.

Opening: Late 1998

Developer: The Mills Corp., Kan Am.

Cost: $165 million

Acreage: 74.5

Size: 800,000 square feet

Jobs: As many as 4,000 full- and part-time when completed

Major tenants:

* Vans Skate Park

* AMC 30-screen movie complex