P-Rod, Nike and City of LA Open Skate Park

A few months ago Rob Dyrdek opened a skate plaza in LA to help create a new space for skaters to come together and hang out and now in a continued effort to give Los Angeles-area youth new places to play, Paul Rodriguez Jr, Nike, The LA 84 Foundation and the City of Los Angeles have joined together to open a new space. The park opens on Father's Day and Paul Rodriguez, Jr. and his dad, legendary comedian Paul Rodriguez, Sr., will be on hand to cut the ribbon for the Paul Rodriguez Skate Park at Ritchie Valens Public Park in Pacoima, California.
 
Constructed in an area of Los Angeles near where Paul Rodriguez grew up, this new skate park’s design pushes current standards by recreating famous Southern California skate spots and incorporating them into the natural fabric of the existing park. As popular as skateboarding is around the world, a majority of famous skate spots in the United States are on private property and are illegal to skate. This skate park has no fences or traditional skate park elements, just natural, skate-able architecture, as skaters would find in any neighborhood.
 
“I wish I was 15 again so that I could grow up with such amazing terrain nearby,” said Rodriguez, Jr. “If you wanted to, you could film here—there is no difference between this park and a real spot. For example, the ditch at the end of the path is a re-creation of the Griffith Park run-off ditch, and the blue handrails in the plaza are replicas of the nearby Sylmar rails that are no longer skate-able.”
 

The Paul Rodriguez Skate Park was designed and constructed by Joe Ciaglia and California Skateparks. As industry leaders in forward thinking design and construction, the firm was the logical choice. Skate legend and fellow Nike SB team rider Lance Mountain was also the co-designer of the park. He sums up the park’s concept:
 
“The process starts by thinking the way most street skaters feel about skating: skate to a spot, have a session and then move to the next spot. The challenge is to build a place where skaters can hang out and feel like it’s a real session in the street or schoolyard without getting kicked out. And if you want to film there, the photos and video should look like a real skate spot. Just freedom—you should not feel like you were being punished or sentence to skate here.”

If you have a chance to swing by the park drop FUEL.TV a picture or video of yourself skating the new spot.