By Jennifer Sawhney

For local skateboarders and other two- and four-wheeled shredders, the groundbreaking of Petaluma’s new skate park last week inspired visions of a revitalized scene in town that could put Petaluma on the map.

Upwards of 50 people gathered at Lucchesi Park on Wednesday, May 20, to celebrate with city employees, diehard longtime skateboarders, and a locally raised skateboarding champion.

This 23,000-square-foot park situated between the tennis courts, the Boys and Girls Club, and the soccer field at Lucchesi Park will be the city’s second. Petaluma’s first skate park, located next to the swim center on Washington Street, was built in 1997. 

The groundbreaking event followed years of community input and support, even as questions arose on whether the park could come to fruition, said Parks and Recreation Director Drew Halter, who delivered opening comments. Its backers, he said, sacrificed short-term solutions “for the home run.”

Local photographer and skateboarder Nik Cotten was holding a Nikon F4 as he stood next to his friend and world skateboarding champion and Olympian Minna Stess, as they reminisced on that process.

They remembered the early support and the uncertainty. Would he still be skating when or if the park were ever built, Cotten wondered. There was silence from the city – and then, they saw the design.

“It’s like, honestly, so surreal that it’s actually happening,” Stess said, as guests stood nearby chatting and eating hot dogs grilled by city staff. “I can just imagine myself literally being here all day.”

She recalled being at early planning meetings when park advocates told staff, “We need everything. We need every single obstacle,” as Cotten agreed.

Construction of the new skate park is expected to be complete by fall, according to the city’s project website, at a cost of $4.17 million. After that, a second phase is planned to provide additional amenities including restrooms, lighting, accessibility improvements, and more. The cost of that work is not yet known. 

The building process will begin with excavation and an analysis of the underlying geology of the area, said Miki Vuckovich, director of strategic initiatives with Southern California-based California Skateparks, the company building the park.

“It’s an amazing location,” he said.

The company has built parks for major competitions including “all the X Games, Street League, the last two Olympics,” and a skatepark on nearly every continent.

“We’re used to catering to the demands of literally the elite echelon of skateboarders around the world,” Vuckovich said. “And that’s what we bring to community skate parks. That's where future champions get their start. They deserve the best as well.”

The park was designed by Seattle’s Grindline Skateparks, Inc., a company with an equally positive reputation among those who attended.

One of them was John Aubin, of Cotati, who has been skating for the last 25 years.

“To me, it’s just important that the kids are going to be getting something of this quality in the area,” he said, lauding the “amazing” work of the designers and builders who are seeing the Petaluma project through.

He was glad the design of this new park caters to skaters of all skill levels. It will also be open to scooters, bikes, and in-line skates.

“I grew up skating in Sonoma before we had a skate park and all that, so for [kids] to have something this good to learn on, you’re going to see an uprise in how many people are going to be skating.”

When asked if he’ll visit, he didn’t hesitate: “Oh yeah. I’ll be coming here.”