Construction began Monday on a 25,000-square-foot skate park in Sun Valley that's poised to be the city's largest venue for grinding and kick flips.
Located at 12477 Sheldon St., the project is expected to be completed by Thanksgiving and feature plenty of rails as well as a quarter pipe.
"The two closest skate parks we have are North Hollywood and Hansen Dam," said Parks and Recreation General Manager John Mukri during a press conference. "So you can see if the kids want to go out and play and skate, they have to go a long way or they do it in the street."
The new park will also feature shade-providing trees and amenities catered to beginning and advanced skateboarders. About $2 million from Prop. 40 was used to buy the land, formerly slated for condominiums until the developer went broke, while another $2 million was secured from Prop. 40 for construction.
Recently elected Rep. Tony Cardenas played a role of getting funding and remembers the day the city's planning commission approved the project.
"This is not about one person, this isn't about just one thing, this is about the community accepting and respecting and putting our tax dollalrs into a project that's going to benefit our children," Cardenas said.
Mike O'Gara, second vice president on the Sun Valley Area Neighborhood Council, said he's glad there will soon be an alternative to local church parking lots and businesses for skaters.
He said the council and other stakeholders worked closely with the city to provide feedback on the park's design and that he was satisfied with the finalized plans.
"They did a great design, they changed only one thing from what we wanted," O'Gara said, adding: "We're really excited and ecstatic that this is happening."
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