More than 500 community members gathered Thursday evening for the official grand opening of the Diamond Supply Company Public Skate Plaza in Hazard Park.

 

The $320,000 state-of-the-art skate plaza is 10,000 square feet, and features three main areas: a multi-tiered plaza, a center section, and an end feature/transition section.

Fifteen-year-olds Francisco Martinez, and his friend Ricardo Ruiz, both attend Media Arts High School and are excited to have a new skate park in the neighborhood.

Martinez, who previously skated in front of the Wellness Center or on the sidewalk, says it’s not always easy to find a place to skate.

“It is very easy to get in trouble for skating in public, “ he says. “People don’t like you skating in front of their homes.”

The skate park has features such as stairs, ramps, and rails, all which are seen on the street as well as in professional skateboarding.

The project was funded through a grant collaboration with professional skater Rob Dyrdek’s Street League Foundation, The California Endowment and a donation from Nick Diamond and his Diamond Supply Co., a Los Angeles-based skateboarding brand.

Ricardo Ruiz, 15, says he thinks it’s a great addition to the community and says it will help keep skaters from skating on private property.

Both Martinez and Ruiz attended the grand opening, where they received free Diamond Co. Supply skating merchandise, and met professional skaters.

“It was really fun and exciting,” says Ruiz.  Both boys say they plan on using the park often.

The skate plaza, built by California Skate Parks, was designed by in a creative collaboration between Drydek and Diamond, both skateboarders who say they take pride in building plazas that skaters will love to skate.

It is Drydek’s eighth skate plaza in Los Angeles, and the second in Boyle Heights. The first opened in 2009 at Hollenbeck Park.