Marnie Gavit, 45, is a La Jolla mother of three who believes the village needs a safe, designated place for children to skateboard. She also happens to be a skateboarder herself who has spent time hurtling down Black Mountain Road. Gavit is working with the Tony Hawk Foundation and skate park designers Spohn Ranch Skateparks and Site Design Group Inc. to get the wheels spinning. “We have ideas but it takes the whole community to plan it and to get involved with it,” Gavit said. Gavit has floated the idea of locating the skate park at La Jolla Recreation Center on Prospect Street. The board is in the midst of conceptualizing a redesign of the recreation center, which still must go through the public vetting process. The preliminary plan moves the basketball courts to the south side of the building. Gavit is also looking at locating the skate park in the canyon north of the fire station on Nautilus Avenue near the walking trail. She is less interested in suggestions to build a skate park near the French-American school since she said it would be less accessible to students. Deciding where to locate the skate park — or whether to build a few small skate parks around the village — is a process that takes time and is not a quick decision, said Miki Vuckovich, executive director of Tony Hawk Foundation. Most importantly, the park needs to be easily accessible to the skaters and bikers who use it, he added. “The idea is not to put the skate park behind a warehouse and give them the message ‘out of sight, out of mind,’” Vuckovich said. “We should put them in a visible spot to show them that they are part of the community. It instills in them a sense of stewardship.” An estimated 2,000 skateboarders live in La Jolla, with 14-year-old boys comprising the majority, according to Vuckovich. La Jolla Parks & Rec. Inc. board members showed interest in bringing a skate park to La Jolla at the group’s meeting on Feb. 24. The board advises the Park & Recreation department on parks in La Jolla. “I caution everyone on the board … to ask, ‘Is this a goal for the community to work towards,’ versus getting wrapped up with, ‘Oh my God – not here! [at the recreation center]’” said board member Darcy Ashley. Board member Melinda Merryweather expressed support for incorporating the skate park into the redesign of the recreation center. “I don’t like the idea of the recreation center being only for old people or just for kids,” Merryweather said. Others were more skeptical of the idea of locating the skate park at the recreation center. “I think that … Marnie Gavit [is] going to have a difficult time convincing the community that the best use for the La Jolla Recreation Center — given its proximity to schools, churches, museums and residences — is a skateboard park,” said Chip Rome, president of La Jolla Parks and Rec. Inc. A man who lives across from the recreation center worried about noise from the skateboarders and illicit use of the park at night. Late-night basketball players already bother him with their noise, he said. Building a skate park will cost an estimated $500,000 to $1 million depending on the location, according to Gavit. She is in the process of setting up a board of directors and establishing a nonprofit 501c3. She plans to set up a table at the farmer’s market to sell T-shirts and gather support for the cause. Gavit also intends to raise money, in part, through private fund-raisers and events with professional skateboarders. “I’m passionate about this,” Gavit said. “It’s not just for our children; it’s for everyone’s children.” Gavit will present her idea to the Parks and Beaches Committee on Monday, March 22 at 4 p.m. at La Jolla Recreation Center, 615 Prospect St. For more information, e-mail her at [email protected]. LJ Rec Center on drawing board The 96-year-old La Jolla Recreation Center could be better, agree members of the La Jolla Parks & Recreation Inc., an advisory board to the city’s Park & Recreation Department. In 2008, the group began putting its ideas together and has since drafted a preliminary conceptual plan to redesign the recreation center. “I joined the board along with some others who feel that the recreation center could use a fresh face, and that this wonderful gift that Ellen Browning Scripps gave to the community could be better utilized if certain changes were made to it,” said Chip Rome, president of La Jolla Parks & Recreation Inc. In the plan, the basketball courts would move to the south side of the building to be replaced with a grass playing field. “In the Center’s ‘Back Yard,’ not only are the basketball courts too close to the building, they also separate the field play from the playgrounds,” states the draft plan, designed by Spurlock Poirier Landscape Architects. The preliminary plan calls for more shade and picnic areas. It recommends building a shaded pergola and tree-lined pedestrian walk adjacent to the building. A sculpture garden would be added to the front lawn, which would, otherwise, remain the same. An underground parking garage or skateboard park is not part of the preliminary plan, Rome emphasized to dispel such rumors. The board has not voted on the preliminary plan, which still must go through a public vetting that has not started. Ultimately, City Council would vote on the redesign of the recreation center. “If any community member is interested in seeing something at the recreation center, now is the time to come forward when we can actually do something about it,” board member Mary Coakley said.