Slowdown in development delays skateboard park

A slowdown in development means Hesperia's skateboarders will be going without a new skate park a little bit longer.

"Well, in a nutshell, the skateboard park is one of several big projects that the [park] board wants to complete," Cal Camara, General Manager of the Hesperia Recreation and Park District, said Thursday. "And last year, we were hoping we'd get a lot further on it, but what happened because of the slowdown in development, about three-quarters of our budget for capital development came in."

The new Malibu Park and other district projects soaked up much of what money came in. But skateboarders shouldn't lose hope: "It's going to be hopefully part of this year's budget, depending on what our funds are," Camara said.

The five-member park board's highest priorities are the new Civic Center Park, Maple Park, the community center building at Hesperia Lake, a new gymnasium ... and the skate park.

The district's new budget will be finalized in July.

"My gut says that if we get enough funding, [the skateboard park will open] toward the latter part of the fiscal year, which will be after January. That's the good case scenario," Camara said. "We have several big projects on the board, so we just have to see how they all fit in."

The next meeting of the Hesperia Recreation and Park District Board will be held June 13 at 7 p.m. at the Lime Street Park Community Center.

Beau Yarbrough can be reached at 956-7108 or at beau@hesperiastar.com.