Tony Hawk's foundation to give to LB skate park
By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
Posted: 08/06/2010 07:47:57 PM PDTUpdated: 08/06/2010 08:22:48 PM PDT


LONG BEACH - Skaters at the proposed McBride Skatepark will be able pull off their grinds, ollies and kickflips with just a little more style thanks to the Tony Hawk Foundation.

The nonprofit run by the famous skateboarder announced Friday it has chosen Long Beach as a beneficiary of an annual pledge drive the group holds to support skate parks.

The pledge drive could raise $70,000 to $80,000 or more for the park at 1550 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, which coincidentally is staging a groundbreaking for its new teen center and the skate park today at 11 a.m.

Although $400,000 to $450,000 of Redevelopment Agency money had already been earmarked for the project, the Hawk money will provide improvements that will make it a first-class facility.

As designed, the footprint for the facility is about 14,000 square feet, 12,000 of which will be skating area.

"I don't even know how to explain it, I am so excited," 6th District Councilman Dee Andrews said.

"Everything now is skateboarding," Andrews said. "But we're ready to have a top-of-the-line skate park right here in the Central Area."

Former Councilman Mike Donelon, who has been at the forefront of promoting skate parks in Long Beach, says of the new park with the Hawk funding, not to mention the cache of the Hawk name, "I have no doubt it will be one of the premier skate parks in Southern California.

Miki Vuckovich, executive director of the Tony Hawk


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Foundation, said picking Long Beach was a bit of a departure for his organization. Typically, Tony Hawk chooses communities with few opportunities or little awareness about skating.
Although Long Beach can be considered "enlightened" by skater standards, Vuckovich said the Central Area is one that is underserved and in great need of recreational activities for kids.

"The success of the parks, and I've said this for 12 years, are the kids who use them," Donelon said. "This diversity and the cooperation speaks volumes for the kids."

The foundation will play host to a fundraiser in Beverly Hills on Oct. 17 to benefit the local park. The event will feature an action-sports carnival, music performances and Vert Demos, with stars of skateboarding and BMX performing on Hawk's personal ramp.

Since 2002 the Tony Hawk Foundation has awarded $3.2 million dollars to help build 463 skate parks in low-income communities across the U.S.