The Cambria Skate Park was torn down in the spring of 2020.
“The skate park was more of a homemade skate park. It wasn't permitted,” explained Matthew McElhenie, Cambria Community Services District General Manager.
“When the skate park got taken down, it was right around the time when I really started enjoying skating,” said Cyrus Tatham, a Cal Poly student from Cambria.
He says it sparked him to get involved.
“I decided to start going to the CCSD, the community council, and start talking to them about why the skate park wasn't built and what's going on with that,” Tatham said.
Tatham has been skating since he was 10 years old.
“I grew up around my brother and all his friends and that whole skate-surfing culture in Cambria. That's all I knew growing up,” Tatham said.
On Dec. 4, California State Parks recommended Cambria for a grant that would help fund the town’s skate park project.
The Community Services District applied for the grant through State Parks. The skate project is one of 16 projects now moving through a federal review.
“We applied for a $1.2 million grant in which the district and Skate Cambria, with their half of the funds, would be eligible for another $600,000 if awarded,” McElhenie said.
Since 2021, a group of residents known as Skate Cambria has raised nearly $635,000 in private funds for the project.
They've been working with the Community Services District for a little over a year and a half to secure more funding for the park.
Mcelhenie says the next steps may take a year.
“There's a federal workshop that we need to go through, there's a couple other processes in terms of paperwork, land appraisal and things of that nature to move forward in the project,” he said.
Meanwhile, Tatham says he’s excited about what the future skate park will bring to the community.
“When you go to the skate park, you might not even know someone but you can be best friends with someone in like a day,” Tatham said.
The hope is that by the end of 2024, the federal review part of the project will be complete and project funding can move forward.
