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Skaters and residents urge repairs, staff says vendor inspection is scheduled
Summary
Residents and regular users of the South Pasadena skate park told the Community Services Commission the facility needs maintenance and new obstacles. Staff said the original vendor, Spawn Ranch, performs annual inspections and a site assessment was requested but delayed; staff will coordinate repairs once the vendor provides an estimate.
Patrick Cruz, a longtime South Pasadena resident and frequent user of the city skate park, told the Community Services Commission on March 10 that the facility needs maintenance and a few new obstacles to make it safer and more useful for local youth.
"It's a great, great park," Cruz said, and added that skaters are repairing damage themselves and that the mini ramp has a hole patched with duct tape. He said younger children have been hurt and that the park lacks low, flat learning rails and other features suited to kids learning to skate.
The commission's deputy director for community services, Melissa Snyder, responded that staff has “already contacted the vendor that is going to be coming out to look at the skate park” and that the vendor was scheduled to do a site assessment but had not yet come because "something had come up." Snyder said the vendor who originally installed the park, Spawn Ranch, conducts annual inspections: "We do it annually. We have them come out annually, inspect all the ramps ... and they'll check all the screws to make sure everything is screwed in tightly," she said. Staff committed to coordinate maintenance with that vendor and to send the commission an update by email.
Commissioners and other speakers described additional problems beyond the ramp hole: a porta-potty described by multiple meeting participants as unsanitary and in need of more frequent servicing (staff said it is serviced twice a week), trash in and near the park associated with a nearby homeless encampment, and missing or improvised obstacles that skaters bring themselves and which can cause splinters or other injuries.
Commissioners suggested short-term steps staff can pursue while longer-range projects are handled through the parks comprehensive plan, including asking the vendor for a maintenance history and schedule and coordinating a site visit. The commission did not take a formal vote; staff noted they will obtain the vendor’s assessment and an estimate and will coordinate maintenance work as soon as the vendor is available.
The skate park remarks came during the meeting’s public comment period and were followed by staff and commissioner discussion identifying next steps: arrange the vendor site assessment, produce a maintenance schedule or report for the commission, and alert the parks comprehensive-plan consultant about skate-park safety and youth-access features.
Local skaters and parents asking for repairs said they are willing to assist with labor or provide dimensions for new rails, but that the city needs to fund the materials and schedule contractor or vendor work.
Staff and commissioners said they will follow up with a written status update for the commission.
