WEST SACRAMENTO – Rotting wood, uneven ramps, loose screws and downright dangerous – that’s how some neighbors in West Sacramento describe the city’s only skate park.
“This railing here is totally rickety,” said neighbor Adrian Pinon as he showed CBS13 the dilapidated park. “It’s not very safe. I don’t recommend it. I don’t recommend riding on it at all.”
Pinon lives just down the street from the skate park at Westacre Park, but despite his passion for BMX riding, he doesn’t go there regularly.
“I wish I came here more often. It’s just a little too unsafe for me,” he said.
He described the facilities as broken, cracked and simply falling apart.
“If your skateboard wheel gets caught in it, you’re lost,” Pinon said.
Pinon filed a complaint with the city of West Sacramento this week, demanding that something be done about the unsafe equipment, fearing someone could be seriously injured.
“We want people to end up doing extreme sports and not fall and get hurt because of the park they’re riding in,” Pinon said.
I asked the city of West Sacramento what was being done to address the park’s problems.
“The city is aware of the current challenges at the skate park and continues to do its best to balance the needs of the park and ongoing maintenance,” a city spokesperson said in a statement Thursday.
The city pointed to an imminent solution that has been in the works for more than two years.
The Westacre Park expansion and renovation project has been in the planning phase for about two years and is fully funded at nearly $8 million.
“The renovation of Westacre Park is funded by Proposition 68 and includes a fully renovated skate park as well as other amenities such as a spray park, play structures and pickleball courts that will provide fun for the community,” the city’s statement said.
The city added that construction throughout Westacre Park should begin in November 2024 and be completed in August 2025.
Pinon wants immediate action.
“We residents want something now, we want something sooner,” he said.
After CBS13 contacted the city about these concerns on Thursday, our crews saw city staff on-site that same day looking at the dilapidated facility.
“I certainly don’t want the skate park to close, but it’s getting to a point where we may have to close it,” Pinon said.
