Dozens of skateboarders and their families celebrated the grand reopening of Silverado Skatepark Saturday after a significant remodel.
Remodeling the 5,000-square-foot space was a collective effort, with funding coming from various sources, including $15,000 from Tony Hawk’s nonprofit, The Skatepark Project, $5,000 from the Port of Long Beach and a $133,250 grant from Nouns DAO, a web-based art brand.
Dario Flores, a teenager and Long Beach resident who was skating the park Saturday, said Silverado is his home skatepark that he used to visit every day despite it being run-down. He admitted that he got hurt more than once due to holes in wood ramps.
“It was pretty gnarly,” Flores said, adding that the newly reopened park is a “major improvement. I love everything about it.”
The Action Sports Kids (ASK) Foundation, a nonprofit that has been revitalizing the skateboarding scene throughout Long Beach since it was founded in 2011, took on the remodel of the deteriorating Silverado Skatepark in 2021.
Creating pocket skateparks in underserved neighborhoods has become the life’s work of Mike Donelon, a former Long Beach City Councilmember and founder of ASK.
During the reopening event, Donelon recalled his first foray into the skateboarding world as a councilmember in 1996: a resident called to complain about teenage skaters tearing up their lawn. Donelon went to the house and talked to the 18-year-olds who challenged him to build a skatepark.
Today, there are nearly a dozen skateparks throughout Long Beach.
By giving youth an outlet for their energy and frustration through skating, Donelon said skateparks also serve a public safety purpose. Within three years of opening the Michael K. Green Skate Park on 14th Street near St. Mary Medical Center in 2014, violent crime in the area dropped nearly 30% and drug-related incidents dropped nearly 61%, he said.
“It really helped the city understand the benefit of skateparks in our most underserved communities,” Donelon said, adding that the skate culture encourages acceptance and camaraderie. “It’s kind of like a family. Give me a troubled kid and let me put a skateboard under his feet and we’re going to make a difference in their life.”
Silverado Park is at 1545 W. 31st St.
