In Fremont, An Unlikely Skateboard Mecca

Last Wednesday, Mike Brown and his buddies piled into a car and made an hourlong pilgrimage from Pittsburg to Fremont. 

Demarcus James did the same from San Francisco. “Smalls,” from Walnut Creek. Others, as far as Stockton and Sacramento.

They’re among the hundreds, if not thousands, who’ve made their journey to the Fremont Skate Park since its soft opening on May 31, turning our city into an unlikely mecca for the edgy action sport.

“It’s damn good. It’s one of the best in the Bay Area,” Brown, a 32-year-old lifelong skater, said about the skate park.

Kalen Glenn, also 32, of San Jose, agrees. A skater since he was 10, Glenn brought his 3-year-old son, Maximus, to check out the park.

“It’s a really unique design,” Glenn said. “The variety is awesome.”

Located at Central Park next to the Aqua Adventure Water Park, the park boasts features for beginners and experts, kids and adults. A $1.4 million project, the skate park has a small bowl and a professional-size bowl (swimming pool), stairs, a variety of rails, a “snake” run for slalom-style skating, a street course and more.

“It’s definitely a 10 on the scale,” said Jordan Richter, a 38-year-old former pro himself who runs the Jordan Richter Skateboarding Academy. Richter is partnering with the City of Fremont to host a summer skate camp at the park. He says the park is good enough to attract other pros and is helping the City plan skateboarding events, including the park’s grand opening celebration on June 19. See details below.

“It’s a very unique thing to have, especially for Fremont,” added Richter, who’s been skating for 28 years.

The new skate park provides a much-needed outlet for youth in the community, Richter said.

“If they don’t have a skate park, they don’t have a designated place to ride and practice their craft. Then they’re going to take to the streets, and that exposes them to other dangers, whether it’s being hit by a car or being harassed by others,” Richter said. “Other cities have proven that skate parks are a centerpiece of a city when it comes to youth. That’s why it brings the community together — it makes for a very positive, engaging experience for the youth and the community.”

“Fremont is already one of the best cities in the U.S. The skate park is just going to enhance its reputation as being a city that embraces these kinds of things,” he added.

However, the park didn’t come without its detractors.

The concrete park replaces a wooden one that was built in 1999 and shut down in 2009 for being too worn down. The city’s hope was to always have a proper skate park, according to the Fremont Argus. But in 2011, neighbors across the street from where the skate park was slated to be located filed a lawsuit, claiming the city’s conduct a proper environmental study and urging officials to move it elsewhere in the park. The city re-did their report, and the plan held up.

How the skate park will impact nearby residents is yet to be seen. But the community so far is embracing it with open arms.

About 100 teens and adults zip through the concrete playground, doing ollies, grinding on rails and kick-flipping off of ramps. Spectators, like Erin Waterhouse and her toddler son, are enchanted.

“I think it’s cool,” said Waterhouse, who walks through Central Park at least once a week. “It’s definitely something good for these kids to do instead of being on the streets.”

While many skaters are out-of-towners looking to explore new territory, none are more excited than the locals.

“It’s hella sick, dude,” exclaimed local 15-year-old Tyler Nichols.

For the last few years, many Tri-City skaters have had to go to the one in Union City, a smaller park that pales in comparison to Fremont’s vast and versatile terrain. Now they have a home base, a place to call their own.

“We have a place to congregate,” said Zack Garnder, 15, of Fremont. “It’s kind of nice.”

The Fremont Skate Park celebrates its grand opening at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 19. The event will include music, skate demos and a ribbon cutting. It’s located at Central Park along Paseo Padre Parkway, next to the Aqua Adventure Water Park. 

For more info on the park, click here.