CLEARLAKE, Calif. –On Tuesday afternoon the Clearlake skatepark reopened following a nearly two-month-long closure for repairs.
The city of Clearlake had closed the skatepark on March 13 due to its damaged condition, which created safety and liability issues.
City Public Works Director Doug Herren attributed much of the damage to the bikes that have used the park. “It's not designed for bikes.”
On March 12, during its midyear budget review, the Clearlake City Council allocated a maximum of $10,000 to repair the facility – known officially as the Andy Johnson Memorial BMX/Skatepark and located in Austin Park, as Lake County News has reported.
Herren said Tuesday that his staff had to conduct major repairs, including rebuilding almost the entire understructure of the skatepark's ramps.
“That's what took so long,” he said.
They also ran out of decking during the project and had to order more of it, Herren said.
Public Works staffers Chuck Davis, Clay Van Housen, Javier Macias and Dean Lain made the repairs, said Councilman Bruno Sabatier.
“They did a lot of great work,” Sabatier said.
Sabatier said the city crew replaced support beams that had split in half or been knocked off their screws from the brute force of riders coming off of a big jump.
“They added additional support beams and joists to hopefully hold the support beams longer,” Sabatier said.
Altogether, it took 40 sheets of decking and almost four weeks of the closure time to repair the ramps and recover them with black smooth sheeting, Sabatier said.
“I spoke to many of the kids riding this afternoon after the park opened and they love it,” Sabatier said. “They missed their park and they can really feel a difference in how much better the ramps are.”
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