StoneWave Skate Park

Drawing plans, seeking approval, applying for permits, moving earth, laying materials, pouring concrete…

Nalu Pohaku Stonewave Skatepark was designed by Blaze Anderson, a longtime staff member of the PYCC. Blaze consulted for years with top skate park designers and builders to perfect the design and construction of this park: Jim Barnum – SPECTRUM DESIGNS, Tim Payne – TEAM PAIN, Dave Duncan – WORLD CUP Skateboarding, and especially Rick Carje – RCMC, just to name a few. He worked closely with SPAUSA – Heidi Lemmon in the areas of design, safety, operations, and insurance issues.

Completing the skate park involved community collaboration at every level from PYCC staff, youth members, local government, and merchants.

Each year the Stonewave Skatepark builds on the dreams of its founders, celebrates with skaters from all around the world, and provides an arena for many community events.

StoneWave Skatepark has already established itself as a world class venue.

The StoneWave Skatepark is 10,750 square feet in area and consists of a multi-level pool area (3′, 4′, 6′, and 8′ bowls with 50′ of pool coping – Penrose – and 10″ of tile), a ledge to 6′ elliptical WAVE street area, and a 36′ wide by 5′ and 7′ mini-ramp installed flush to the street area. It is constructed with concrete, Shotcrete (a sticky, spray-on concrete mixture), wood, and Skate-Lite surfacing on the ramps.

In 1996 the Pā‘ia Youth Council, Inc. dba Pā‘ia Youth & Cultural Center approached Alice Lee, Martha Ferris (President – Maui Skateboard Association), and representatives from the Parks and Recreation Department, and the Maui County Council to discuss the community need for a skatepark in the Pā‘ia area.

PYCC staff (Susun White and Blaze Anderson) recognized a community need and helped identify suitable locations on county property. It was determined that the most appropriate location would be adjacent to the youth center where it could be more easily supervised. Since the Youth Center is located on private property (A&B), the monies allotted for development and construction were made available by way of a county grant to the Pā‘ia Youth & Cultural Center available in 1997.

In March 1997, the “Skate-A-Thon” fund raiser was held in Baby Park. Youth solicited donations door-to-door as sponsorship for a 12 hour skate session that included a huge sound system from Pro Sound and 10 bands, lighting generators from HC&S Pa’ia, fish for sandwiches from Nagasako Fish Co, and the support of staff from the Maui Skateboard Association and the County of Maui. Over $2500 was raised that day with 120 skaters.

After much research and designing it was determined that a minimum of 10,000 square feet was required to operate a small skatepark, and more money was needed for completion. Another grant was written to the Atherton Foundation, who awarded PYCC $10,000 towards the skatepark. In 1999 more Parks & Recreation money became available and a second county grant was awarded to PYCC for a total of $95,000.

From 1999-2001, plans were developed, zoning requirements and permits were researched, and construction estimates narrowed down. In 2002 the Tony Hawk Foundation awarded PYCC a grant in the amount of $1,000 towards construction. Additional Community funding was received, including discounted or donated equipment, materials, and labor. Construction began in April 2002, with the issuance of the grading permit. MacDonald Contracting Inc. graded and placed footing trenches, including the excavation and filling of bowl areas.

In June 2002 the Villiaramos Crew placed the wall footings and set the block walls. During that time vandals destroyed some of the wall and various materials for the completion. The site was cleaned and repaired within 2 days with a total loss of over $5000. September 2002 had the crew from RCMC LLC, notorious for building most of the concrete pools and street courses for the VANS Co. skate parks, on site to form and “shoot” the first round of concrete, establishing the bowls. After 5 weeks of intense building more than half of the technical “hard-stuff” was complete, and our budget ran out, including most of the money on loan from a friend of PYCC. The liability insurance for the site also lapsed in October 2002, which kept the site clear for nearly 3 months until a new carrier could be found.

Mayor Kimo Apana designated an additional $50,000 to PYCC as a line-item fund to continue construction, which re-started in January 2003 with plan revisions, permit issues, street course walls and footings, and additional fill work. Many volunteers appeared at this time to complete smaller, important structural projects including drainage and dirt removal/shaping.

In July 2003 the RCMC LLC crew re-appeared on scene, and within 3 weeks, 108 cubic yards of concrete and $35,000 later the concrete portion of the skate area was completed.

In 2012, the Final Phase of the skatepark was completed. This project included a new street-style section with amazing features, a pavilion with bleachers, and removing the telephone pole that interrupted the main promenade. Thanks to generous community and parental support, then-director Ryan Worcester, and skatepark builders Sky and Jesse, the skatepark was finished.

We have been developing, designing, fundraising, and constructing this skate park since late 1996. Funding has been primarily from County of Maui grants, an Atherton Foundation grant, a Cooke Foundation grant, the endorsement and a grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation, logistics support from A&B Properties Inc, the Taste of North Shore fund raiser, and the rest through community donations, volunteers, discounted materials, labor, and lots of sweat!!!