NIPOMO, Calif. -- Skaters and BMX
bikers in Nipomo are protesting plans to tear down their skate park.
They hosted their first extreme sports competition to
try to save it.
"We had nothing out here," says
professional BMX biker Alex Raban. "There were no spots for us to ride so we
started with a small slab and started building some stuff and we slowly started
growing."
And upon hearing their beloved park might be torn down,
they held a competition as a form of protest.
A year ago, the skate park was
completely torn down and kids were left to skate on the streets, until some
skaters in the community got some scrap metal and wood and started building
again.
But the park is built on private
property, causing major concerns for the county.
"Complaints of graffiti, illegal
activity, drugs," says San Luis Obispo Fourth District Supervisor Paul Teixeira.
"And the property owners are basically fed up and decided to go ahead and clean
the place up."
But skaters say its the park,
that keeps them out of trouble.
"This place is like an escape,"
says Raban. "This is an outlet."
For riders it's more than just a
skate park, it's their second home.
"If this gets torn down, all those memories will be
gone," says skater Chris Perez. "That's a big part of our lives. We love doing
this."
Supervisor Teixeira says the
county plans to build its own skate park but has struggled to find the funding.
