Pala builds skatepark

PALA:  New skatepark a hit with youths, tribeIf there are fewer skateboarders hopping curbs and grinding public railings around this small American Indian reservation these days, the answer can be found at a concrete wonderland across the highway from the casino.

That's where a shiny new skatepark that opened in April has been attracting impressive crowds of skaters from all over North County and Temecula--groups of athletic young men whose previous outlet for their preferred afternoon activity was the nearest parking lot.

The Pala Band of Mission Indians spent $570,000 to build the park on a thin strip of land beyond the softball fence at the Jim Banks sports complex off Pala Mission Road.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Hopi/Navajo Skatepark.