Jimmy Ortega to be Remembered with Skatepark Shade Structure

Plans are underway to build a shade structure overseeing Carson Warner Memorial Skatepark in honor of Jimmy Ortega, a 2005 graduate and avid skateboarder who died last year in a car accident.

The project has been spearheaded by Jimmy’s parents, Ralph and Dawnna Ortega. Ralph Ortega told the Healdsburg Parks and Recreation Commission at last week’s meeting that he wanted to honor his son’s memory by gracing his favorite destination with a dignified monument that would also go to practical use.

““My son was an avid skater and a fixture at the park since the day it opened," Oretega said. "He would get me up early in the morning to be one of the first in line (to use it). My wife and I want to support him. We have a scholarship in his honor at the high school, but we wanted to build a lasting memorial.”

Jimmy Ortega died in March 2010 in a crash involving a intoxicated driver, police said.

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According to City Parks Manager Matthew Thompson, the Ortegas' plan calls for a 15-square-foot pergola sitting on a grassy knoll near the northeastern entryway to the skatepark, where shade is most plentiful.

“One of the largest complaints among those who use the skatepark is that there’s not enough shade,” Ortega said.

The monument will contain a plaque that bears Jimmy Ortega’s name and some brief biographical details, Thompson said.

The structure will be open-sided where it faces the park, giving visitors a full view of the rolling, jumping, spinning, board-flipping athletes who traverse its varied obstacles.

It will be built mainly of wood and will be designed to admit a combination of shade and mollified sunlight beaming through a cloth ceiling stretched out over supporting rafters, Thompson said.

“There is a need for a skatepark structure for viewers especially,” Thompson said. “For parents, this is a prominent spot on a grassy knoll right next to the entryway where they can watch their children skateboard.”

Ortega said his plan has gotten the bulk of its financing from donations made by family members and friends – donations that may or may not ultimately cover the full cost of construction. In the event of a shortfall, Ortega said he and his wife would pay the remainder.

This project, the help it’s received, all the support – it means a lot to us,” Ortega said.

Ortega has also organized a group of volunteers – mainly current and former builders and contractors– who will collaborate to build the structure, under the oversight of the Parks and Recreation Commission.

While the Parks and Recreation Commission did not vote on the issue Wednesday, committee members gave every indication they favored the project.

A vote is scheduled for the commission’s next meeting on Sept. 14; Thompson said he expected that work on the pergola will begin this fall and be completed by the spring.

 When it is built, the monument to Jimmy Ortega will be a memorial inside another memorial that was crafted under similar circumstances.

Carson Warner Memorial Skatepark was itself built as a memorial to Carson Warner 13 years ago by his parents, Chick and Cookie Warner, after Carson died in an all-terrain vehicle accident as a teenager.

Like Jimmy Ortega, Carson was infatuated with skateboarding, according to his dad.

Chick Warner and Ralph Ortega attended last week’s meeting in tandem, both of them strongly advocating the inclusion of a viewing memorial within Carson Warner Memorial Skatepark.

“Ralph came to (my wife and me) and talked about the idea, and we looked at it very favorably,” Warner said. “We thought it sounded like a pretty good fit.”

 Warner described the monuments as being both honorariums to the children whose names they bear and also, more generally, to the youthful spirit that both boys embodied.

 “I think people look at kids that age and discount them, but they’ve got their own thing going, and (skateboarders) are valid athletes,” he said. “These kids are into some cool stuff, and this is celebrating their lives in the unique way they live them.

 Carson Warner Memorial Skatepark is at 1100 Grove St. in Healdsburg.  Skateboards and in-line skating are allowed but no bicycles. Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in winter; 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. in summer. (There is no adult supervision at the park).