Skate park could get big-name sponsorship

Alicia Robinson

Costa Mesa-based Volcom, the skateboard and surf clothing company

that uses the slogan “youth against establishment,” is going to work

for the man.

Well, that’s one way to put it. City officials have negotiated a

potential 10-year, $300,000 deal with Volcom to sponsor the city’s

new skate park, which is set to open this summer at TeWinkle Park.

The City Council tonight will consider the naming rights

agreement, the first of its kind in the city. If it’s approved,

Volcom’s benefits will include placing its logo in three places on

the skate park’s bowls and installing a logo-shaped shade shelter,

and the park will be called “Volcom Skate Park of Costa Mesa.”

In exchange, the company will pay the city at least $30,000 a year

during the 10-year agreement, and it will be offered an option to

renew for 10 more years.

A consultant hired by the city talked with a number of companies

about sponsoring the park, but Volcom was the logical choice because

it’s local, Costa Mesa recreation manager Jana Ransom said. In fact,

two Volcom employees were on the skate park design committee.

The company also was willing to commit a significant amount of

cash to the city and agreed to relatively tasteful advertising, she

said.

“We could have had Target and Blockbuster and Carl’s [Jr.] and all

those take different portions,” said Ron Hagan, an associate with the

Public Enterprise Group, the consultant that hammered out the Volcom

agreement. “That would have provided a lot of mixed messages on the

site. It would have looked like a strip mall instead of a city

facility.”

A Volcom spokeswoman declined to comment on the deal.

The money from the proposed skate park agreement would basically

offset the cost to run the park. The easily quantifiable cost is an

estimated $10,000 a year for electricity to light the park, but other

“soft costs” such as cleaning and maintenance drive that total up.

Construction of the park is expected to cost about $1 million.

The park is likely to be a model for other sponsorship

opportunities in the city, a perhaps ironic twist in light of how

vehemently some people opposed the park’s creation. The Public

Enterprise Group is working on a report, due out this summer, on

other facilities or services for which Costa Mesa might find

sponsors.

“The million dollars that we’re putting in [to the skate park] up

front, we’re going to get back a portion because we have a sponsor,

and there’s no other amenity that’s municipally owned right now that

we can say that,” Ransom said.

Also on the council’s agenda tonight are proposed rules for skate

park operations and an ordinance that would allow city police to

enforce the rules. Suggested hours of operation for the park are 8

a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

Recreation staff members are recommending the park not be

supervised because it increases the city’s liability, but signs would

be posted advising people they must wear helmets and other safety

gear and that they use the park at their own risk.