Skate fans find haven in O.C. park
Campus Times
December 11, 1998
The world's largest skate park was opened by Vans, originally a shoe
manufacturer, Nov. 21. The facility is part of an outdoor shopping area
called The Block located in the city of Orange. The 46,000 square foot park
has two cement pools, a vert ramp, indoor and outdoor street courses and
a pee-wee skate area for children.
It is always nice when a local Southern California city such as Orange
becomes home to the first history-making endeavor that will change the face
things as we know it.
About three weeks ago, The Block in Orange opened as an outdoor entertainment
and retail center that includes everything from the new Ron Jon Surf Shop,
Dave and Busters, GameWorks, Wolfgang Puck's Cafe, Alcatraz Brewing Co.
and a variety of other unique shops for the complete shopping experience.
To go along with the complete shopping experience, Vans Inc., a Southern
California-based company, built a huge skate-park to allow skaters everywhere
the ultimate and complete skate experience and is about to give local skaters
bragging rights.
Not only is the place huge -- covering a 46,000 square-foot facility
and towering overhead with 34 foot ceilings -- but it allows amateur skaters
from ages 6 and up to skate alongside professionals such as Andy MacDonald,
who they probably only dreamed of meeting.
The skate park is a one of a kind. It offers a top-of-the-line 80-foot
vert ramp, an in-ground intermediate skate pool and a second Combi pool
that allows skaters to reach speeds of 35 mph.
"You need to learn how to fall before you can skate this,"
said park manager Russ Paige of the Combi pool.
All skaters are required to wear, but are not limited to, helmets, elbow
and knee pads and must sign a liability waiver. If skaters do not own their
own gear they can rent it.
There are also two street courses -- an indoor and an outdoor.
Indoors the course features a combination of quarter-pipes, banks, adjustable
height hand-rails, fun boxes and pyramids. To be added to the course at
a future date will be some ledges and sidewalks.
The outdoor course has hand rails, stairs and marble, the slickest surface
known to skaters, and cement ledges with an industrial feel. This course
is a haven for in-liners.
"The Vans Skatepark is a big step for the growth and future of
skateboarding," said Vans pro skateboarder Omar Hassan in an issue
of the Vans Skatepark newsletter. "Finally there's a skate park that
offers a style of terrain for every skater's ability. Orange County finally
has a skate park that's not only good, but the best in the world and I'm
stoked that it's close to my house."
The Vans Amateur World Championships will be held there as well as concerts,
professional skate demos and premieres for some skateboarding videos in
the future.
The park was designed by some big guys in the world of skating.
Dave Ducan, who worked on the Warped Tour and a former professional
skater, designed everything that is wood. Rick Carje, who has designed three
infamous pools and several skate parks in Long Island, N.Y. and Boulder,
Colo., dealt with everything that was cement.
The park also houses a "pee wee" park that offers the most
challenging ramps and street courses for youngsters.
Drew Weaver, 7, who began skating about three months ago, and his dad,
Rob, have been coming to the park since it opened three weeks ago.
"He was bugging me to come to this thing before it was even open,"
said Rob, who feels the park is a safe place for Drew to learn to skate.
Sessions last two hours and the park is open seven days a week. Pricing
ranges from the time that the session starts, to the day of the week (it
being more expensive on the weekends) to whether or not one has member status.
Member prices range form $7 to $9, and non-members prices are between $11
and $14, plus the cost of rental gear if needed.
The park is located at the juncture of the 22, 5, and 57 freeways. To
get there from La Verne, take the 57 Freeway south to Highway 22 going west
toward Long Beach. Keep to the right and proceed to the City Drive exit.
The park is on the northeast corner of The Block.
