VIDEO: Closed California Skate Park Filled With Sand Attracts Dirt Bikers, Skateboarders During Coronavirus

KEY POINTS

San Clemente officials had previously ordered the park filled with 37 tons of sand to prevent skaters from being able to use the park and violate the park's closure
Photos and videos emerged online of dirt bikers and skateboarders continuing to use the park as the latter dug out spots to continue skating
Los Angeles officials have employed a similar tact to discourage skaters from using the Venice Beach skate park during quarantine

California officials had ordered a popular skate park closed and filled with sand as a way to enforce social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The plan, however, appears to have backfired as videos and photos emerged online Wednesday of dirt bikers driving around the skate park. Posts of dirt bikers showed locals returning to the popular park in San Clemente, California, in violation of the park closures.

A post shared by instagram

Returning skaters also appeared online as they dug out enough of the park so they could continue going out to skate.

San Clemente City Officials dumped 37 tons of sand into a skate park to prevent skaters from sneaking in.

The non-profit group that raised money for the skate park says the city did not notify them about filling the park with sand. pic.twitter.com/GGcWGJrHtk
— KUSI News (@KUSINews) April 19, 2020

san clemente skaters aren't having it pic.twitter.com/ncLF3t5l3y
— surfnakd23 (@surfnakd23) April 20, 2020

The skate park in San Clemente was one of several parks in the city closed on April 1 as part of greater efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus. No trespassing signs were put up with the closures to encourage residents to stay at home, but the signs were reportedly ignored and people continued skating.

In response to the violations, city officials ordered the park filled with 37 tons of sand. The hope was that this would make it impossible for skaters to do anything and keep them from violating the closures. Officials said there was no cost in putting the sand in the park and it won’t cost anything to remove it.

Local skaters were disappointed with the decision.

“We’ve been coming here for fifteen years and now the city officials have taken the one thing we love to do, away,” a local told San Diego-based local news station KUSI. “This is our home and this is where we exercise. We’re able to social distance while also seeing our friends.”

The same tact was employed at Los Angeles’ Venice Beach skate park, where skaters continued skating at the park despite the closures.

“These kids are cooped up inside their houses, they just want to go to the skate park and have some fun,” motocross filmmaker Connor Ericsson told KUSI. “As soon as the skaters showed up, we got a broom and a shovel and we helped them sweep that thing out, get the sand out there so they could do a little social shredding themselves.”