LAKEPORT – New skateboard ramps, clothing, footwear, boards and gear can be found at the newly re-opened Armor Skateboards – now Freedom Skate Shop – inside Lakeside Lanes in Lakeport.
Lakeport”s only skate park opened Monday after it was closed for nearly three months when Lakeside Lanes was having financial problems and threatened to close its doors in March. Armor proprietor Paul Mitchell said he sold the skate park to Freedom Skate Shop owner Justin Capri, who owns two skate shops in Ukiah and has been in business more than 11 years.
“I got 25 to 30 calls a day asking when we were going to re-open. I literally had to shut my phone off,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell is planning a grand re-opening with a skate competition and giveaways. The date will be announced, he said. In the meantime, the shop is open Sunday through Thursday between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., and on Friday and Saturday between 11 a.m. and 10 p.m. Monthly memberships are available.
Mitchell opened Armor in December 2007 after garnering the support of the Lake County Board of Supervisors and the Lakeport City Council. He said he started by putting his line of skateboards and clothing in a local tattoo shop, but the energy in the community around the need for a skate park grew.
“I want to give a place for the kids to skate without being harassed. A lot of skaters are good kids – I”d say 90 percent are good kids – they just have nowhere to skate around here,” Mitchell said.
Rough sidewalk and Lakeport”s ordinance that prohibits skateboarding in city parks have meant the closest place to skate was in Clearlake. Capri”s skate shop in Ukiah was the closest to Lake County before Mitchell re-opened Monday.
“The owner of the Safeway parking lot told us that since we were open, the amount of kids loitering in front of their store dropped drastically. The sheriff and the Lakeport Police Department used to come here all the time and tell me how much they appreciate me being open because it was getting so many kids off of the streets,” Mitchell said.
Capri, who now owns the shop and pays Mitchell to operate it, said among other ideas he has for the shop, the park lends itself to competitions. Mitchell said he plans to host them quarterly, along with other events for local youth groups.
Freedom Skate Shop ownership brings a larger selection of skateboarding clothing and gear, including Volcom, Fallen Footwear and DC, among others, according to Mitchell. He said a nice side effect is keeping more dollars in Lake County”s economy.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com or call her direct at 263-5636 ext. 37.
