Council approves city's first skate park
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

Moorpark skateboarders are one step closer to having a place where they can 'kickflip, do an 'ollie' and 'grind' without reprimand.

The City Council, Wednesday, approved conceptual plans for a 14,000-square-foot skate park slated to be built on a vacant 2.2acre site next to Poindexter Park in late 2008.

City staff will now seek bids to construct the skate park and the other recreational amenities that will be part of the park expansion project. They'll include a basketball court, a play lot designed for preteens and picnic amenities.

The play area will consist of balance and climbing components that are challenging and attractive to young adolescents, a staff report indicated.

Skateboarders in Moorpark have been waiting a long time to see such a facility constructed. In the meantime, they have to drive to Camarillo and Thousand Oaks to use skate parks in those communities, the report also stated.

The park expansion was recommended by the Parks and Recreation Commission because many residents supported the idea to build a skate park and facility to serve young teens.

"It will be a place where teens can hang out," said Mary Lindley, director for the Parks and Recreations Department.

"It will be a huge benefit to the community, which has a large community of skaters," said Maurice Goldstein, a young father who said he enjoys skating with his children.

"The skate park will give kids a healthy and safe environment to express their athletic talents," he said.

Moorpark has the opportunity to build a cutting edge skate park that will challenge the skaters of today and tomorrow, Goldstein also said, offering to help the city with the endeavor and predicting the skate park will be a busy place once it's built.

Poindexter Park is a desirable location for the skate park because it's adjacent to a middle school and it's visible from Poindexter Avenue, city officials said.

The park already has a restroom and sufficient parking to accommodate park users and noise concerns are minimized because the facility will be on the east side of the park, near Chaparral Middle School. The improvements will cost about $2.3 million.

City staff will also work with the Moorpark Unified School District to see if they can use a portion of the Chaparral Middle School Parking lot during off hours.

The skate park will be gated and it will have lights. It will also be closed at dusk, Lindley said.