RideOn Skatepark: What a Newark Legacy!

It was in 1978, the same year in which skateboarding and skateboard ownership was completely banned in Norway, forcing skateboarding to go underground until 1989, that the RideOn Skatepark made its mark on the sport of skateboarding. RideOn Skatepark hosted a professional bowlriding contest, the Hester Pro Series. Where was this skatepark? Newark, California, of course. The skatepark occupied EZ-8 Motel lot on Cedar Boulevard. This lot is currently being developed to make room for new homes.

At Newark Days I had the pleasure of meeting a parent that was born and raised in Newark. He had fond memories of the RideOn Skatepark. In his words, “I was envious of my older brother because I was too young (I was six at the time) to skate at the RideOn Skatepark, but I wanted to skate so badly.” As he told me this story, I imagined this middle-aged man peering out of a station wagon window as his parents dropped off his older brother at the skatepark before heading to a cute neighborhood playground where 6 year olds frequented. He was born in the wrong decade, or was he? Kids start skating a lot younger these days because skatepark design takes into account different skill levels.

Ask around town, and you’ll be surprised how many residents remember RideOn Skatepark. They’ll smile when you mention that place, and you’ll surly get goose bumps. It was a popular hangout for kids. Chat with Jackie at Jackie’s Barber Shop, and she’ll reminisce about the skaters and spectators with whom she hung out and the fashion of those times.

Talk with the seniors that live in the neighborhood behind the library, and they’ll tell you how much that place meant to them, and how skateboarding played such an important role in their kids’ social lives—how it made them feel like they were part of a community—something big. The cover photo taken by Ted Terrebonne of Tony Alva on the Sept 1978 issue of the Wild World of Skateboarding magazine isn’t news to them—they were there. Tony Alva was a household name.

Skateparks have evolved from bowls (aka swimming pools) and vert ramps to also include street and plaza obstacles. Today skateparks contain half-pipes, quarter pipes, spine transfers, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, pyramids, banked ramps, full pipes, snake runs, stairsets—many of which can be found outside of skateparks, in front of public buildings.

Skating is the preferred activity for many of our teens, and the sport is on the rise. It just won’t go away, nor do we want it to! According to Skatepark Association International, in 1996 there were three (3) skateparks nationwide; today there are 4,000+ and growing.

Newark kids want a skatepark. Help us get them one. What a legacy that will be!

Angela Akridge, Executive Director

Newark Parks Foundation
Sign up for News & Events: http://tiny.cc/SignUpWithNewarkParks
Facebook: Friends of Newark Skatepark or Instagram: @newarkskatepark
Website: www.newarkparks.org
Email: info@newarkparks.org