Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin yesterday cut the ribbon for a new park in southeast Fresno. And this isn’t just any park.
Fresno skateboarders have a new skate park to play in. It’s located behind Romain Park near the junction of routes 41 and 180. And it’s unlike any other skate park in Fresno: it was designed by skateboarders. Hundreds of teenagers and young adults took part in the planning process—including Manuel Martinez.
“When you’re skating you can tell that it’s their ideas,” he says. “It’s not no regular construction engineer who did it. These are actually skaters who were like, let’s get a bank, let’s get a rail, let’s get a hand rail. That’s what’s so awesome about this park. And I was part of it.”
Sandra Celedon-Castro is with Building Healthy Communities, one of the groups that spear-headed the project.
“We believe that when you involve not just young people, but community members and residents in any planning process, they take ownership of the outcome,” she says. “And we know that when there’s social connections, our communities are also safer.”
The park replaces a temporary skate park that had been deteriorating for years.
