Save Carlsbad Skatepark Rally

Subject: Save Carlsbad Skatepark Rally
10/19/2004 Carlsbad Skatepark, Carlsbad, CA

On March 13, 1976 Carlsbad Skatepark opened, making it the world's first. Covered with dirt in the early 80's it has remained buried for about 20 years but could be easily excavated and restored.

Our vision for the park is to restore the original facility as a historical landmark, add new modern street and pool terrain and build the world's largest skateboarding museum with facilities for art, photo and film exhibits.

The skatepark sits on a 6-acre parcel in the corner of the Carlsbad Raceway property, which is scheduled for grading in November as a part of a 135-acre industrial park being developed by the H.G. Fenton Company of San Diego.

This is an irreplaceable part of Carlsbad's, California's and skateboarding's history! How can we save this?

Buy the property: The market value for the parcel is between 2.5 and 3.5 million dollars. Due to the unlikelihood of finding private donations and grants of that amount in the next couple weeks we will ask the City of Carlsbad to assist with funding and gaining the cooperation of H.G. Fenton to cease grading plans for the property. We propose a City/corporate partnership to make this a public, free-to-ride facility; a model of success is the Etnies Shoes/ City of Lake Forest park.

Show of support: We need to show the City of Carlsbad and H.G. Fenton the magnitude of support the residents of Carlsbad and the skateboard community have for this project. We have met with Mayor Lewis of Carlsbad and he was initially very supportive of the idea, we plan to address the city council on the 12th of October as well. We will stage a rally at the site on October 19th at 3:30 pm to prove the extent of support for the park followed by a more extensive presentation to the city council at 6 pm. Anyone who can't attend the rally or council meeting can voice their support by writing to the council.

The proposed skateboarding and museum complex would be a great asset to the City of Carlsbad and surrounding communities.

Recreational facilities for Carlsbad residents: There are 12 million skateboarders nationwide, but only 1,000 skateparks. Skateparks are the number-one most wanted recreational facility in a recent national poll of parks-and-recreation directors. Carlsbad currently only has one smaller facility.

Attracting tourists: The "World's First Skatepark" and "Worlds Largest Skateboarding Museum" would attract visitors from all over the world. It would be a place the family could enjoy together along with Lego Land and other area attractions. Skateboard contests, demonstrations and other events would bring thousands of people to Carlsbad hotels and restaurants.

Asset to the Carlsbad Raceway Business Park: Skateboarding is a one-billion-dollar annual international business. DC Shoes whose primary focus is skateboarding footwear exceeded 100 million in sales last year; DC is located within a half mile of the raceway property. There is tremendous potential to draw other skateboard related companies into the Raceway Business Park area. The open space and park-like setting of the skateboarding facility would also add value to all tenants and employees of the industrial complex.

If you have any questions or ideas, please call me. We only have a few weeks to make this happen so any time you can dedicate to the cause would be very helpful. Please forward this info to all of your local accounts, friends and media connections; print some flyers, signs and t-shirts. The skateboard industry and riders need to rally together like never before to save this piece of history and future location of many great skate sessions and events, let's do this!

Check out the flyer!

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David Bergthold
Smash Technologies Video
Blockhead Skateboards
o. 760-721-5352
m. 760-717-4012