Los Angeles to Open Its First Public Skate Park

Los Angeles skateboarders and in-line skaters will finally have a patch of concrete to call their own as the city opens its first public skate park Saturday.

Enthusiasts are so eager to use the Pedlow Field Skate Park in Encino that city officials said they moved up the opening date, not waiting for new grass.

“No doubt it’s going to be popular, based on preliminary reports,” said Ellen Oppenheim, general manager of the city Department of Recreation and Parks. “The largest age group of skaters are 11 to 16, and that’s an age group we’re focusing on, trying to provide them exciting, positive and engaging activities.”

The 8,500-square-foot concrete park includes handrails, steps and a “fun box,” a pyramid-like structure with a flat top that skaters can perform moves over. There is a bench with a steel edge and a ramp-type structure called a waterfall.

Before, children in the area had no safe place to skate, said Virginia Hatley, a city landscape architect and project manager for the park. “They get chased out of parking lots and school grounds,” she said. “This is a facility [where they can] burn off their energy to their hearts’ content.”

The project, which cost $330,000, was funded by Proposition K, a bond measure passed by voters in 1996 to develop parks and open space, Hatley said. The park’s master plan calls for another 11,500 square feet for skating (for a total of 20,000 square feet), an exhibition area, a concession stand, permanent restrooms, more paved parking and walkways, which would cost an additional $1.17 million, she said.

Expansion of the skate park, built on the old Pedlow baseball diamond, will depend on its success and community interest, Hatley said.

“There will be a lot of demand,” she said. “I suspect we’ll be enlarging it sooner than we think.”

Although the new park isn’t as complete as she had hoped, skate shop owner Phyllis Fleschler said it will still be an asset.

“It’s definitely a great addition. It’s so overdue, very overdue,” said Fleschler, owner of Valley Skate and Surf in North Hills, who served a year on a citizens committee that gave the city input on the park. “Come summertime, I think it will be a zoo.”

While Pedlow is a first for Los Angeles, other cities in the county, including Burbank, Glendale, Calabasas, Santa Clarita and Palmdale, already have skate parks.

The Encino facility, which is free, will be open from noon to sunset weekdays and 10 a.m. to sunset on weekends and holidays.

Fleschler is circulating a petition asking to have the hours extended to better accommodate working adults who like to skate while kids are in school. City officials said they will take the issue under consideration once the park opens.

At least one city employee will be on site to remind park users to wear protective gear. An ordinance to require such equipment is being drafted by the city attorney for approval by the City Council, Oppenheim said.

Saturday’s grand opening, set for 11 a.m. at 17334 Victory Blvd., will include demonstrations by professional skateboard and in-line skate teams. If it rains Saturday, the opening will be postponed until Feb. 24.