Skateboard Park Nears Completion

Construction crews are putting the finishing touches on the city’s long-awaited public skateboard park, a 10,000-square-foot facility expected to open later this month.

John Williamson, general manager of the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District, said the skateboard park will open two weeks later than anticipated.

“They just poured the bottom, and it’s looking really good,” Williamson said of the park on Ponderosa Drive.

The district plans to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony Nov. 20 at 4 p.m., and the park will officially open at 9 a.m. the following day.

With an estimated $180,000 price tag and such amenities as pyramids, ground rails, ledges and handrails, local skateboarders are getting excited.

Many have been anxiously peering through the chain-link fence behind the Camarillo Boys & Girls Club to watch the final touches being added.

“At least we’ll have somewhere to go,” said Brandon Hochhalter, 13. “Now the police won’t be concerned about skateboarding so much.”

The city donated $50,000 toward the park district’s skateboard park, one of the first partnerships between the two groups in more than 10 years. The district will cover the remaining costs, Williamson said.