Max ArriazaFourth Street’s hopeful new addition for skaters has been closed and wrapped in caution tape for the majority of the time since its grand opening last month. But that hasn’t stopped skaters from using it.
“It’s just creating more kids trespassing by having it closed,” said Gerry Bueno, an employee of Slushcult, a fingerboard shop located near East End Skatepark.
East End Skatepark opened Sept. 5 after being approved by the Santa Ana City Council for construction in December 2018. Ryan Chase, a property owner and developer in Downtown Santa Ana, collaborated with the city to build this, but due to complications, construction was delayed.
Many of Santa Ana’s teens ride skateboards as a way to get to school and ride around town. Skateboarders only had Centennial Skatepark and Ed Caruthers Park which opened in 2023.
The distance of these skateparks makes it difficult for skateboarders from the southern part of Santa Ana to get there. East End Skatepark sought to solve this problem by creating a closer park for skaters, but with its current status, it remains an obstacle.
The weekend after Chase and city leaders gathered for the grand ribbon cutting ceremony for the alley-wide skatepark, both doors were locked with a wet, duct-taped cardboard sign stating “More info soon @eastenddtsa.” The Instagram account simply states that the park was ready.
“This is an alley with a truck loading zone and a trash enclosure, just kinda seemed that there was something better it could be. Turning into a skatepark has a cool factor and is a place for the community to hang out,” said Chase in a video of the ribbon cutting ceremony.
Chase goes on to comment about skaters jumping the fence: “We’ve actually been having trouble the last week, we’re not officially open and keeping people out of the park so I guess that’s a good problem to have.”
On Sept. 17, the park closed due to USC students filming at the Frida Cinema, but an employee at Wursthaus, a Belgian brewhouse next door, said it hadn’t been open for the last two weeks. Security of the park said it would open again, confirming the park’s hours of operation to be 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., a closing time one hour earlier than originally stated in city planning documents. City officials did not return a request for comment before press time.
A few days later, local business owners said the Santa Ana Police Department closed the skatepark on Sept. 21, citing the park’s lack of insurance as the reason for kicking out skaters and closing up the park with caution tape. The duct-taped sign with the Instagram account was on the ground.
The locked gate and caution tape didn’t seem to stop one skater, who hopped the fence to practice his wallrides. “I was outside and felt intimidated,” said the skater, who requested not to be named. “It feels like it should be open.”
He said the park is well-spaced out, has good steel coping on the ledges and it was cool that they had preserved all the graffiti.
On Sept. 25, the park was still closed and taped up. Yet about six skaters were taking advantage of the space, having a skate sesh despite the park’s closure. One of the skaters mentioned that security saw them but didn’t ask them to leave.
Last Saturday, the park remained taped up and without proper signage over a month since its ribbon cutting ceremony.
- East End Skatepark still closed despite ribbon cutting over a month ago - October 15, 2025
