After months of renovations and expansion, the popular 14th Street Skate Park will see its grand re-opening on Sunday. The skate park is one of the city’s most heavily used and – in one of the city’s most impoverished areas – provides sanctuary for many children and young adults.
From 1:00-3:00pm at the corner of 14th Street and Pacific Avenue on Sunday, the skate park opening will mark the first of a planned five stages of renovations in the troubled surrounding community.
The park will be renamed in honor of Michael K. Green, a local teenage skater who was an innocent bystander killed in 2005 in an act of gang violence. Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster and professional skater Mike Vallely are expected to attend the opening, along with other local dignitaries and skaters.
Back in June 2009, the skate park renovation sparked controversy when it was named to an Oklahoma senator’s list of the 100 biggest wastes of Stimulus funds.
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