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Last Updated 2/7/07

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Tony Hawk Foundation Grants $10K for Compton Skate Park
Youth-oriented skateboard facility at Wilson Park several steps closer to becoming a reality

By Allison Jean Eaton
Bulletin Staff Writer

The city’s proposed skate park just got another boost following a professional skateboarder’s charitable organization contributing $10,000 to the project.

In a letter dated Dec. 7, Miki Vuckovich, executive director of the Tony Hawk Foundation, informed the city that Compton’s September 2006 grant application was approved.

The city has been seeking funding to construct a public skateboarding facility for Compton’s youth since 2001, according to a Jan. 23 staff report. It was then that the city applied for a Roberti-Z’Berg-Harris grant to get the ball rolling.

The city was awarded $157,500 from the program in 2002. It requires the city to provide matching funds in the amount of $67,500. According to Planning and Economic Development Director Joseph Lim, who authored the staff report, the $10,000 from the Tony Hawk Foundation will be used toward the match.

The total cost of the skateboarding facility to be erected at Wilson Park is estimated at approximately $225,000 — but that’s in 2001 dollars and was a conservative estimate, according to Estella DuBois, grants coordinator for the Planning and Economic Development Department.

But with the Council’s Jan. 23 approval of the reprogramming of certain federal grant monies into new community betterment projects, the skate park will see an increase of $150,000 in funding, according to that resolution.

In addition to the extra financial support, the project should begin to move forward in the coming months. City Manager Barbara Kilroy said the city recently hired on a project manager to take charge of the skate park project. His name is Jim Givens, and he’s slated to start Feb. 14, Kilroy said.

DuBois said a request for proposals has yet to be issued and a final decision has yet to be made as to whether the park facility will be made of concrete or wooden ramps, but that one should be made soon with Givens’ coming on board.

“We’re all feeling really excited that the time table will move forward,” she said, adding that the city has until January 2009 to use the Tony Hawk Foundation funds and until June 2009 to use the state’s.

As part of its agreement with the Tony Hawk Foundation, the city will submit progress reports every six months to the foundation outlining how the money is furthering the project until completion. At that time, the city will be required to submit a final report along with pictures of the open Wilson Skate Park.

According to the foundation’s Web site, www.tonyhawkfoundation.org, the Vista-based organization “seeks to make lasting improvements in society with an emphasis on supporting and empowering youth.”

This goal is met via special events, grants and technical assistance, all provided in support of recreational programs with a focus on the creation of public skateboard parks in low-income communities.

The foundation, launched in 2002, has distributed more than $1.3 million to finance nonprofit skate parks nationwide.

Tony Hawk, the organization’s founder, is a world-renowned professional skateboarder who at 16, was considered the best skateboarder in the world. He was the first person to successfully complete a number of daring tricks.

Also known as the Urban Open Space and Recreation Grant Program, The Roberti-Z’Berg-Harris grant program was initiated after voters seven years ago passed Proposition 12, the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2000.

The program’s monies can be used for acquisition of park and recreation lands and facilities, development/rehabilitation of park and recreation lands and facilities, special major maintenance of park and recreation lands and facilities and innovative recreation programs.