Vans Skatepark

Skateboard Links | Contest Entries and Visitor Comments

November 13, 2004

Skateboarders get in flips as Milpitas park shuts today
By Cecilia Kang, Mercury News
Skateboarders from as far as Stockton and San Francisco went to the Vans Skatepark at the Great Mall in Milpitas on Friday to do one last kick-flip or ollie before the indoor skate emporium closes its doors indefinitely this evening. The Bay Area's only indoor skate park will be replaced by a Kohl's department store, according to staff members of the Milpitas Vans retail store and skate facility.

Note: This page will be kept up for its history and its links.

An enthusiastic crowd of invited Milpitas leaders attended the grand opening of Vans Skatepark in the Great Mall of the Bay Area on Thursday, June 22, 2000. A number of Youth Advisory Commissioners were there wearing their inline skates or toting a skateboard under their arms, eagerly awaiting the opening ceremony to end.

Vans WAS located at the north-west end of the Great Mall, 1150 Great Mall Dr., Milpitas, CA.

Star skateboarder, Steve Cabellero, welcomes Milpitas City leaders Cliff Williams (Planning Commission), Althea Polanski (School Board Chair then, now on City Council), and Charles Lawson (Police Chief)

Steve was instrumental in designing the Milpitas Vans Skatepark. He did some pretty amazing tricks on his skateboard for us. Wish my digital took action shots!

Mayor Henry Manayan and Chief of Police, Charles Lawson, are thanked for their help to bring Vans to Milpitas by Youth Advisory Commissioner, Scott Zeise.

Willy Santos signs a poster for Evelyn Chua, Planning Commissioner.

Willy Santos mugged for the camera, but Youth Advisory Commissioner, Samir Lalwani, kept a straight face.

Youth Advisory Commissioner, Daniel Hay, gets some skateboarding advice from Steve Caballero.

Action was fast! Here's a dude taking on The Washboard.

A member of Vans PeeWee Competition Team slows down the motion momentarily for the camera.

Willy Santos, champion skateboarder, signs a poster for your Milpitas Guide, Ann Zeise.

Skateboard Links

NEWS

Sun, Jan. 30, 2005
East S.J. welcomes first skate park
By Esther Landhuis, Mercury News
City leaders, community members and skaters gathered Saturday to celebrate the grand opening of East San Jose's first skate park. ... The $611,000 skate park -- among the largest in Northern California -- caps a four-year effort initiated by young skaters of Plata Arroyo, an ethnically rich, lower-middle-class neighborhood.

WHERE TO GO NOW!

Ben Lomond Skatepark
Santa Cruz County.

Mike Fox Skatepark
Coming soon to Santa Cruz. Help with the planning and design, if you want.

Northern California Skateparks
Tons of pictures, video clips, directions, weather reports and more. Still has Vans listed, so may be dated. Call before going.

Scotts Valley Skatepark
To get to the Tim Brauch Memorial Skatepark in Scotts Valley from Highway 17 South take the Mount Hermon road Exit. and head right. Continue on Hermon for about a mile and make a right onto Kings Village Road. Follow down to the end of the street and the skate park will be on your left hand side. The address is 361 Kings Village Dr.

SKATEBOARDING

Real Skate
A supportive site for skateboarders, pros, ams, beginners, fans, and supporters of skateboarding. Based out of Santa Cruz.

Skateboard Directory
Megasite directory of skateboarding resources as well as related sports.

Skateboard Science
In a blur of flying acrobatics, skaters leap and skid over and onto obstacles, executing flips and turns of ever increasing complexity--all at top speeds. How on earth do they do that?

Skateboarding.com
E-zine with lots of features and skateboarding tips and events.

Skateboarding Word Search Puzzle
So you can't get out to skateboard today. You gotta do homework. Learn something. Hey! This is a vocabulary lesson or spelling lesson or something educational like that!

PEOPLE

Steve Caballero
A native son of San Jose, Steve Caballero has left his mark on three decades of skateboarding. Interview by Brian Brannon on Skaterock.com.

GETTING STARTED

Build a Park
Commercial site: Stop trying to assemble scrap and get a park through the mail - instant air! Wild Extreme Sports has partnered directly with skatepark manufacturers to bring you Launch Ramps - Wave Ramps - Breaker Ramps - Spine Ramps - Grind Rails - Quarter Pipes for home or park use.

Skatepark.Org
This site serves as a resource for everyone involved in the process of getting a public skatepark built, and generally promoting skateboarding.

Contest Entries and Visitor Comments

I think The Vans Skatepark is a good to skate. It has alot of ramps, boxes, pools and rails you can do big tricks on. One of my favorites was the mini half pipe that was next to the fence which was near the entry. Another one of my favorites was the small pool which was behind the medium half pipe. I also liked the way the pro skaters designed the skatepark it is pretty SWEET!!! -- Lil

Lil, age 10, won two signed posters from Steve Cabellero and Willie Santos. He's had a lot of time lately to surf the web and do some writing as he broke his leg. One guess how.

Van's Is the Sickest park I've ever skated.. The Wave Pool and the Mickey Mouse pool are the funnest parts, but the new outdoor part is pretty sick to.The comp sized Half Pipe is awesome because no one's ever on it, so it's fun to mess around on. I hurt my wrist pretty bad on the backyard-bowl because it was all slippery. The reasons I want the posters is because Steve Cabellero is my fav. skater, because he's 35 and still a ripper. Would do anything to skate with him. -- Greg