Chico Area Recreation and Park District (CARD) has a policy that prompts a 72-hour closure of the Humboldt Avenue Skatepark if ramps or other surfaces are vandalized.
This happened last week after graffiti was found in the park, making it the fourth time the park has been closed over the last 12 months for this reason.
“It came from trying to understand what’s the best way to manage graffiti in the park while also still trying to provide a safe place for kids to skate,” Scott Schumann, CARD’s parks and facilities director, said. “This is our policy as it is now, which we feel like is a pretty good balance.”
Schumann also said that CARD staff doesn’t aim to constantly shut the park down and sometimes it gives some graffiti a pass.
“But when it’s pretty dramatic; multiple ramps [and] in the bowl,” he said, “in order to repaint, it just takes time … And then also, it takes time for it to dry.”
CARD collaborated with Chico’s skate community to designate some areas of the park to be used for artwork, including the outside walls of the bathroom stall and also an “urban art wall” on the south side of the park.
But some skateboarders like Nick Davies wouldn't mind a more vibrant look on the ramps, too.
“It’s hella nice to have a park that’s colorful,” Davies said, “versus just blotchy and gray.”
Why not allow a painted park?
“It can be a safety concern,” Schumann said.
He said some paints can make obstacles more slippery and dangerous. Also, “the content of the graffiti can cause problems,” he said.
The recent closure was due to several pieces of artwork, one of which was sporting the words “I hate you” written in cursive above a cartoon face, which Schumann called “not the most inviting for younger members of our community who might want to enjoy the park.”
Still, some skateboarders who frequent Humboldt Avenue, like Jack Dolinar, aren’t convinced the 72-hour closure rule is reasonable.
“To punish everybody for the wrongdoings of a couple people?” Dolinar said. “It’s just excessive a little bit.”
Humboldt Avenue Skatepark is the only public skatepark in Chico and one of the few within 30 miles of the city. The next closest park is located in Corning.
“I’m sure once that park’s closed, we’re also getting in trouble for skating here downtown, skating here on campus, skating in parking garages,” Dolinar said. “Because that’s our only place to skate.”
“A lot of these kids are coming after school looking to do something,” Dolinar said. “They don’t have a car, they live right here so they just want to skate right outside their home.”
Dolinar said there are other options out there — like more security or warnings — but “that’s a brainstorming decision that has to go on at CARD,” he said.
Dolinar does see the potential downsides of graffiti on ramps and other obstacles.
“It’s cool, you’re not just going to have a plain jane quarter pipe or whatever,” he said about adding artwork to obstacles. “But it’s going to be the people that graffiti everything; they graffiti the coping, that makes the coping stick. So it affects the ramp and the quality of the ramp.”
“Also, there’s the quality of the art you’re putting on the ramp,” he said. “Like, come on, y’all. Do better. Do better.”
Both Dolinar and Schumann said that skatepark patrons seem to look out for the park to make sure closures are to a minimum.
“In the past we have seen increases,” Schumann said, “and then we have seen the skating population regulate and say ‘hey, when you keep spray painting here you’re shutting down the park.’
For now, Schumann says CARD has no plans to change the 72-hour policy.
