SAN BENITO — For years, society has stereotyped the look and behavior of skateboarders.
Recently, and especially in San Benito, that look has changed.
The stereotypical skater no longer exists.
Now, skaters are everywhere and you may not even know it.
Some are teachers, city workers, students, business owners and firefighters.
But they all have one thing in common — they care about their city.
A couple of weeks ago, San Benito opened its new skate pad.
When talk of a skate park began last year, the local skating community was elated.
However, that elation turned to disappointment and confusion when the city began talking about phase one, the skate pad.
The small cement slab that includes four pieces of equipment is minimal but, according to city officials, it’s just the beginning.
The four pieces of equipment consist of a grind box or skate edge, two rails and a skate bench.
After posing a question to local skaters on Facebook, the vocal group expressed their opinions and concerns regarding their new skate pad.
“It definitely is very small compared to what we used to have. All in all I think most of the skateboarding community was very disappointed in the new park,” said Lupe Gonzalez. “The city really let us down with this skate pad.”
The new skate park is smaller in size than the previous one downtown.
Local skater Alex Martinez, who has been skating for nine years, noted the overall foundation seems off.
“The foundation itself seems as if it was poorly made. Or weather had to be a factor. It is small. When it rained it made the surrounding dirt turn into mud making it kind of annoying,” he said.
Parks and Recreation Director Art Garza acknowledged that recent heavy rains did cause water ponding around the new facility. Low lying areas around the park are being filled and leveled with dirt to help protect the foundation.
While the disappointment is apparent, city officials assure the second phase of the park is coming.
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