Skate the Coast ~ A Blast From the Past @ Kelly Street Skate Park in 2010

PHOTO ESSAY. Last post for Skate the Coast ~ General thanks to everyone who helped remodel the Kelly Street Skate Park, in Half Moon Bay.  Coming soon, its distant relative is being born at the Jetty, thanks to Granada Community Services District Parks and Recs.

2010 Skate the Coast IS/WAS …

Michelle Dragony, Martin Brovarney, Casey Brehm, Kris Nishkian and Matt Claudius (Bikeworks), Kellan Martin, Frank Juarez, and Curt Meyers (Powerlines)…the brains and the brawn.

Silvestre De Leon…..months, turning to years, of landscape maintenance and garbage pickup.

Bikeworks:…………….brothers, Kris Nishkian and Matt Claudius, from Bikeworks have supported helmets (50 so far this year!?!) at the park, allowed kids to use their bathroom and been around to help kids when they need it. They are the community anchor for the park.

Scott Hara…………….weeding and enthusiasm.

~ Formed with the intent to upgrade the Kelly Ave Ramptech park and to establish a safe and challenging concrete skatepark for the San Mateo Coastside.

The  Monster Pyramid

Casey Brehm………….pyramid designer (with ‘the boys’), test-skater and dreamer of more things to skate on the coastside! pssst! need an 8 footer for the Monster? eh?!

Scott Hara……………..ideas for engineers…

Ty Drake………………..pyramid engineer

Steve Islander……….framing and sheathing

Oliver Keaton………..framing and sheathing

Miles Keaton………….enthusiasm and encouragement, every day!

Chad Kruckewitt…. ..the metal man. it started with a couple of sheets of metal for the tranny. then there were the corners. then the edges. the beautifully welded tranny and angle-iron took the Monster from being a backyard project to a world class launcher, courtesy of Mike Aurelio and Erik Tassio of Western Allied.

Chris Davidson………want some Skatelite cheap? Unbelievable story of

fate and coincidences coming together to save $2,500 to finish the Monster properly with Skatelite.

John Howard………….another great story of coincidence and timing finding a carpenter who could do the exacting Skatelite work.

Bob Resch……………..and Michelle at Princeton Welding for helping me figure out what the heck to do with metal.

Hopper’s Ramps

The True Ride ramps, a 5′ half pipe and half planter, were from Sean Penn’s tennis court in Kentfield. “Hopper,” his son’s name, was painted on the back of the 5′ half pipe.

Caitlin Giacomino…..putting little pieces together to make a big picture: discoverer of The Hopper Ramps!

Kellan Martin………….always positive, always a smile and always willing to do anything 

to keep Kelly Street Skate Park alive and vibrant, including moving skate parks across the golden gate bridge, and Skate Club every thursday afternoon.

Frank Juarez………….fat box frank is right there making community with the Skate Club and moving skate parks back to half moon bay. catch him at Bikeworks for skate stuff and he’ll set you up.

Nick Trautman………..supporter of friends and coastal skaters. thx for many hours with the drill and battling heavy objects, and winning.

Ronan Fowler…………and Clinton and Jay and all the guys who grew up at park and came back to give back. you rock!

Casey Brehm…………on board for yet another skatepark adventure. hard to believe: free for the taking…oh yeah, screw by screw.

Oliver Keeton…………putting the ½ pyramid back together, twice ;-), and in time for the kids to skate it after school got out.

Chad Kruckewitt…….chad again! sends in superheroes Roland Canales and Spencer Reese (Western Allied) to pick up the last load. Rain or shine order. doooh. rain! and cold. and wind. and a broken truck. and sf afternoon traffic. wet for 8 hours and we still did it! and with smiles. note: Action Towing rescued us and helped unload the truck.

John Howard………….we put the 5 foot half-pipe back together, piece-by-piece, in two days. John moved ramps single-handedly and bullied that sucker into submission. I showed the screws where to go.

Mario Andreini…………Bill, Juan, Bill Jr and Forest have a really great sad-but-true trucking story to tell. Thanks guys.

THE RAILS

Casey Brehm………..designer, welder and painter of the portable round and square rails.

Michelle Dragony….heavy metal driver

The City, The School, The Police, The Review and The Boys & Girls Club

Dirk Alvarado………..parks and recs liason to the city and supporter of civic enthusiasm.

Doug Rider……………for keeping an open-mind and giving us a chance.

Ed Watkins……………making sure we didn’t screw up the chance.

Chief O’Keefe……….Saving brains one helmet at a time.

Caitlin Giacomino… Cunha Boys and Girls Club coordinator and supporter of skaters.

The Review…………….Mark Noack and Lars Howlett for a 12/09 article that allowed me to connect with cheap Skatelite, the Lions, and lots of people to help.

THANKS!!

 

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Remember the Skate Jam?! Saturday, May 22, 2010

Best Trick Competition

BBQ

Music

Prizes!!!

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– ALL AGES WELCOME –

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Here’s the Story of  the Kelly Street-Cunha Skate Park Remodel, 2008.

The Kelly Street skatepark was built in the mid-90’s with the spirited efforts of Colleen Granahan and the funding of the Boys and Girls Club. The ramps were fabricated by Ramptech. I don’t know how much the whole park cost back then, but to replace just the pyramid today would cost $20k.

Some 15 years later, in the summer of 2008, the City of Half Moon Bay had to remove some elements, including the pyramid, due to natural wear and tear, but they patched the half-pipe, and it still functions today (although we should start to save for a complete resurfacing). $18k was spent at that time.

The park began to be used less and less. Garbage began to collect. Helmets were a constant issue for the police.

By early 2009 several local people interested in fixing up the park began to gather around the name “Skate the Coast.” A few weekends were spent raking up garbage and taming hip-high weeds. Silvestre DeLeon has kept the park mowed and has taken the garbage to the dump for the last six months. Allied Waste should soon be resuming their responsibility of the garbage. Sunrise Painting painted the ramps to make them look better and slow the natural rot of wood. Helmets have been provided by Bikeworks/Kelly Street Skate. Several local skaters (raised as kids on this park when it was new!) have come back to coach the younger generation in the natural course of their own skating. Shawn Rhodes of Nor-Cal has started a skate team in Pacifica, CORE has a skate team in Santa Cruz. The HMB Surf Club has had huge success creating a parent-led group that demands high academic standards of its extreme athletes … our little park could be a jewel of a street park, and a positive culture for kids, with a little money, time and love.

It all starts with the pyramid (flat-top, 3 ‘ high, 16’ x 20’ perimeter; major launch element). I know plywood and 2x4s don’t cost $20k. I watch “Built to Shred”. I built cabinets from Time-Life books. I thought we could build a pyramid ourselves for a couple grand.

Well, first I had to get permission from the city and school and Boys and Girls Club to even think about it. Then, I had to find an architectural engineer (Ty Drake) to draw up plans. At this point, I’m thinking they haven’t seen “Built to Shred” 😉 Now I needed a permit. No contractor would consider the potential liability, but one of them suggested I take out a permit as a homeowner and that has worked. All that took a year.

The Dragony Family would donate the value of the materials, $9,500. Worth every penny.

~ Michelle Dragony

 

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