Skate Off

In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic completely changed the life we live as we once knew it. It’s officially marked a year since we’ve had to wear masks and social distance from our loved ones. For others, it’s marked a year since they got to perform their favorite hobbies or activities. 

Following the closure of businesses then came the closure of recreational activity. 

In a city like Los Angeles where dangers and bad influences lurk the streets, youth try to find other ways to escape the various issues that make it challenging for them to do so. Skateboarding is an outlet they use to get out of the street life and find a community to be themselves with others alike. The pandemic has heavily jeopardized their hobby and local park closures have left skateboarders with nowhere to go.

 For many, this place was the Bell Gardens Skate Park but when the pandemic hit in full force, life changed as they knew it.

The Bell Gardens skatepark was open for a small period of time and it remained like that as long as skaters followed the COVID-19 guidelines. That was until local city officials decided it was best to close the park down entirely, along with the other recreational spaces in the area as well.

Huntington Park skateboarder, Rudy Murillo, definitely felt the impact of the park closure by having nowhere else to go to perform these activities. He explained that the Bell Gardens skatepark was a place for him to be free and escape from the negativity that surrounds his life. At the skatepark, he’s able to avoid police and do what he loves to do without worry. 

Murillo has been able to sustain his passion for skateboarding by heading over to Hope Street elementary school in his neighborhood, where it’s become a new spot for skateboarders to use. The school is located only a couple blocks away from his home. On a quick trip to the supermarket, he decided to check it out.  Although there’s a huge no trespassing sign in front of the school, it didn’t stop Murillo as he hopped over the fence and began to skate.

The Hope Street elementary school became a hotspot for skateboarders to skate at after they had nowhere else to go. The school features a set of obstacles similar to those found at a skatepark such as a stair gap to jump down from, ledges to slide on and smooth flat ground to practice tricks. 

Balancing both work and school, Murillo found it hard to find time to express himself physically, especially with every recreational park in the area closed. The nearest skate park to him that is open is the Santa Clarita Skatepark. It  is about an hour drive away from him and nearly impossible to get there with all the other priorities he has in his life. 

After a year-long hiatus, the Bell Gardens City Council decided to finally open the skatepark park as long as the skateboarding community followed and abided by the new rules. The new rules include staying 6 feet apart from each other, facemask enforcement and police presence in the area to control the flow of traffic coming into the park. Along with a new set of rules, the park also incorporated new hours now closing at sundown. 

The pandemic not only forced Murillo to adapt to a new way of living but also changed the way he viewed the world. He repurposed a place he once knew as just a plain old elementary school and used to create his own imaginary skatepark. If it weren’t for this elementary school keep him entertained during the pandemic, who knows what he would’ve.