Kids who skateboard have a place to go in a new skatepark at Seacliff Village Park, thanks to local philanthropist Rowland Rebele and Richard Novak, founder of iconic skateboard company NHS.
Lots of smiling faces surround donors Pat Rebele and Richard Novak as they cut the ribbon to officially open the skate park. Others on the ribbon line include (from left) Mark Scott (Designer/builder Dreamland Skate Parks), Terry Corwin & Mariah Roberts (County Park Friends), Danyel Scott (Designer/builder Dreamland Skate Parks), Rowland Rebele (with Pat and Richard — Generous Donors), Tricia Proctor and Marie Martorella (Project Visionaries), Jeff Gaffney (Santa Cruz County Parks Director), Deborah Bredy (Bredy Construction), Zach Friend (County Supervisor), and Lesley Harris (Legal Counsel).
The project, budgeted at $300,000, opened Feb. 8, with 500 people in attendance, according to Tricia Proctor, who teamed up with her friend Marie Martorella and county parks chief Jeff Gaffney, to make it happen.
Here’s how it got started: Rebele called Novak about kids skateboarding in the parking lot at the Episcopal Church of Saint John the Baptist. Novak, who lives in Capitola, told him the kids needed a place to skateboard.
The plan for Seacliff Village Park, which is across the street from the church, included a skate feature, but it had not been built. A year ago, Proctor and Martorella got a call from Gaffney.
The two moms, both with skateboarding children, had tried in vain to persuade the Capitola City Council to approve a skate park funded by Novak for beginning and intermediate skaters at Monterey Park next to New Brighton Middle School. Instead, the council backed a city initiative for a skate park on McGregor Drive, which opened in 2015.
With Gaffney’s interest, Proctor connected with Mariah Roberts and Terry Corwin of the Friends of Santa Cruz County Parks, then reconnected with Dreamland Skate Parks in Lincoln City, Ore., which had come up with a design for Capitola.
“They came down and saw the (Seacliff) site and said ‘We’re in,”’ Proctor said.
“In a nutshell, and consistent with my experience in business and leading the Land Trust for 10 years, when you have leaders who trust each other, everything becomes possible,” said Corwin. “That is the case here, with leaders in government, private sector and a non profit (County Park Friends), all working in partnership and in good faith to get this project done.”
Deborah Bredy, who took over Bredy Construction in Santa Cruz after her husband Mike died in 2018, built the skate park.
Zach Friend is joined by his son while talking to the crowd.
Construction took seven weeks and came in under budget, according to Proctor.
Donations from Novak and Rebele covered the cost.
Proctor was impressed by the support for the skate park in the community. Supervisor Zach Friend, who has a young son, was a big help, she added.
“People have been waiting for this for so long,” she said. “The kids grow up so fast.”
Her youngest was 6 when she started asking for a skate park in Capitola. He’s now 18, a high school senior going to Cabrillo College, close to home so he’ll be able to take advantage of the new skatepark.
Story By Jondi Gumz