Skateboard museum fans look to council

CARLSBAD — Advocates for the Carlsbad Skateboarding Museum and Action Art Center are making plenty of progress on their proposal as they continue to receive support for the project.

Since the Carlsbad Village Association, or CVA, announced the proposed center, they have received pledges of support from a range of people willing to throw their weight behind the project. The proposal includes a skate park, skateboarding museum, an education center and an interactive arts facility that must be approved by City Council.

“It’s not going to be an easy fight, but that’s why I’m here,” said local skateboarding legend John Hughes, who helped hand finish the first Carlsbad skate park in the 1970s, at the March 4 meeting about the museum.

Robin Young, executive director of the CVA and the driving force behind the project, has been working closely with the Tony Hawk Foundation to learn everything there is to know about opening a skate park. Young is also collaborating with Mike McIntyre of ACTION Sport Development to create renderings for the park that will potentially be housed at Carlsbad’s Oak Street maintenance yard.

“The plan is for the city to hopefully rent the land to the organization for a small fee so that the CVA can use their resources to fund the facility,” Young said.

Project supporters strongly believe that this project will be a great addition to the community because of the positive impact it will have on Carlsbad’s youth. The center incorporates aspects of skateboarding that will draw kids of all ages and could help them see a career path into the skateboarding industry, Young said.

“We have the ability to let kids be creative and I think that is something that outdoes anything else,” City Council candidate Jon Wantz said.

As Young puts the finishing touches on the project proposal, McIntyre will finalize the site map and renderings for the park to be shown to City Council. Young is expecting to deliver the proposal at a city council meeting as early as mid-March.

“We have to remain 100 percent positive,” Wantz said. “A lot of things are changing in Carlsbad.”

Other project advocates will continue to focus on spreading the word and gathering support from Carlsbad Village merchants, skateboarders and the community. The museum already has a large following on Facebook and Twitter.

“People will do anything for kids,” said Hughes, citing a number of other area skateboarders that would be interested in helping the project. “You’ll find people will come out of the woodwork for them.”

Follow along with the proposed skateboarding museum’s progress on their official blog at cvskatemuseum.blogspot.com.