Local Skateboarders Unhappy with Hours at Skate Park

Skateboarders in South Gate believe that they are facing a lot of challenges. They feel that their ability to skate within their city is difficult. forcing them to rely more on skate parks to practice their sport. However, skateboarders are finding it difficult to skate at their local park because of its limited hours of operation.

“We will usually go to the skate parks in Cudahy and Bell Gardens,” said Bryan Bejines, 18, a skateboarder from South Gate. Bejines admits that the hours of operation of the South Gate skate park are one of the main reasons that he skates elsewhere. “So we have to skate very far.”

Bejines does this despite having to spend more money.

“Its tiring, so we have to get water and food on the way, and we don’t have that much money,” said Bejines.

The local skate park, which is located in South Gate Park and completely fenced around, is open from 1: 00 p.m. to dusk from Monday to Friday.  According to skateboarders and city officials interviewed, dusk usually means between 6:00 p.m. to  7:00 p.m.

On the weekends it is only open on Saturday from 12:00 to 4:30 p.m. and is closed all day on Sunday.

Younger skaters, who rely on their parents or guardians to take them to the skate park, find themselves being more affected by the park’s hours. As a result of this they sometimes are not able to skate at all.

“My uncle will bring us and it will be closed,” said Armando Soriano, 13, from South Gate.  “Most of the time that we come it is closed.”

The exodus of local skateboarders to neighboring skate parks is a known trend not just among skaters, but also with skate shops in South Gate.

Jackie Farfan, owner of Yuri’s Records on Tweedy Boulevard, which also sells skateboards, is familiar with this practice.

“A lot of kids are going to nearby skate parks,” said Farfan. “It is sad that they have to skate to a different city. ”

Javier López, 28, owner of 3043 Boardshop on Tweedy Boulevard, is also aware of this trend, and is part of it as a local skater.

“If the skate park were to be open more often I would probably skate in it more,” said López, who usually goes to the park in Gardena. “If you have a job its difficult to skate during the time that it is open.”

The South Gate Parks and Recreation Department insists that they would like to have the skate park opened for more hours. Further adding that their tight budget does not allow it.

“We have to provide a staff member to supervise the park during all hours that it is open,” said Paul Adams, Director of Parks and Recreation for the city of South Gate. “We are limited by the budget that we are provided by the City Council.”

Unlike most neighboring skate parks, the South Gate park only operates when a park attendant is present. The attendant is there to supervise the skaters and enforce safety rules.

“The city, in order to protect itself legally, has to have an ordinance that requires skateboarders to wear helmets,” said Adams. “If we don’t have some form of enforcement the city will end up with a sizeable settlement against it if a kid suffers serious injury.”

The South Gate skate park did operate without an attendant prior to January 2008. This is something that was changed because of pressure from local parents.

“We received lots of complaints from parents who reported that their kids were being forced out of the skate park by older kids,” said Adams. “The breaking point was when we found videos on Youtube of staged fights at the skate park.”

Increasing the hours of operation at this moment in time seems unlikely. However, existing hours of operation can be tweaked to better accommodate people if there is enough demand.

“Individuals who would like to suggest different hours can make such requests at the Sports Center,” said Adams. 

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