Kimball Park witnessed its share of kick flips, ollies and a manual.
These were just a handful of tricks that skateboarders showed off to each other last week in the scorching summer heat as kids, teenagers and young adults enjoyed the opening week of the Kimball Park’s brand new Skatepark at 12th Street and D Avenue., adjacent to the baseball fields.
“It’s so sick, like it’s perfectly designed,” Randy Navarro, a skateboarder from Chula Vista, said about the new skatepark.” It’s like perfect for any trick that you want to learn.”
Navarro showed up to the park early Monday morning, meeting with up with about eight of his friends. They playfully competed against each other trying to outdo one another with tricks. Then they spent some time just skating around by themselves.
By mid-day Navarro was exhausted and decided to get some rest on a park bench while offering pointers to younger skaters.
Kimball Park had a temporary skatepark next to the basketball courts as the new skatepark under went construction last fall. The park was completed in March and opened to the public April 20. City officials say the park cost about $ 1 million.
Navarro and his friends said the 10,000 square-foot park is one of the best in San Diego County. The park has plenty of rails, several ramps and rocks that serve as decoration.
“This one is probably one of the biggest skate parks I’ve been to,” he said. “There’s a big section, little section and a medium section. It’s just perfect.”
Navarro said he has skated at other skate parks around town including the Len Moore Skatepark in Chula Vista, the Ocean Beach skatepark and the Alga Norte skatepark in Carlsbad.
Navarro said while National City’s Skatepark may be one of the biggest parks in the county, it also has lights for nighttime skating, something he said other parks lack.
National City Councilwoman Alejandra Sotelo Solis said the skatepark is part of a bigger effort by the city to improve the quality of their parks.
“I’m proud to know that through our plans to improve our community parks and with direct input from our National City youth, we have been able to build a state-of-the-art skate park,” said Councilwoman Alejandra Sotelo Solis.
