Last year Malibu’s Papa Jack’s Skate Park was closed due to the fact that the park was on private property, and the landowner wanted to use that property to open a grocery store. Since the closing, members of the Malibu City Council and community have attempted to initiate construction for a new skate park. They have made several efforts to raise support for the new skate park by attending several city council meetings, in which they justified why a park is needed, and hosting numerous fundraisers to raise money for the park.
The Malibu community kept a strong hold on its desire to recreate the park so that even when told by the council that it did not have a sufficient amount of funds, the community members in response chose to have multiple fundraisers for the cause. The largest and most influential fundraising event that began the fund for a new skate park took place at Duke’s Malibu, a seaside restaurant just off of Pacific Coast Highway. During the event, an auction was held, raffles took place and live bands performed as friends and family of the community came to the fundraiser. Everyone who attended made an appearance to solely support the re-construction of a new skate park showing true ties to their city. After the event, the council became aware of how much the community members wanted the park in their community.
Papa Jack’s Skate Park was the first and only skate park in Malibu before it was closed. It was named after the landowner, Jack Shultz, who donated his property to the community in 1999. Shultz hoped to create a place in the community that would provide a designated area for skating so no more destruction is caused by skateboards. As of now, council members are searching for advisors to evaluate the space and design of the new park.
“We must ask ourselves what is it that our skate culture or community wants,” said Bob Stallings, Parks and Recreations Director.
Plans for a more temporary skate park have been taken into heavy consideration while a permanent one is in the process of being designed. Locations for the temporary park have been debated between the Bluffs Park at Malibu, and the parking lot next to the Lifeguard tower 11. This is an ongoing process that must be planned, and approved before construction can even begin. The official date for a grand opening is still a mystery to the public.
“I don’t know when the park will be open, actually I don’t think anyone knows. However if we looked at this realistically, hopefully within the next year or so,” said a Malibu community member.
Although there is no given date for the opening of the temporary skate park as well as the permanent one, the blueprints and plans are still being debated. A design firm is being hired , and needed next is the input from the community. The expected opening of the temporary skate park, if all goes perfectly, is to be around late 2013.
