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"The El Estero skate park officially opened in Monterey Saturday after the city spent six months renovating the park.\"The old skate park was very limited. The transitions weren't as up to date. It was a janky little park,\" skateboarder Nikk Hickland said.Hickland grew up skateboarding at this park, which was first built in 1999. With more than $300,000 worth of renovations, he said it's a whole new park.\"Now there's a lot more potential and opportunity with the new stuff,\" Hickland said.The more than $300,000 came from a neighborhood improvement plan that pinpoints areas of the city that need some refurbishing. That money comes from a motel and hotel tax.\"The kids just needed something better,\" Monterey Mayor Clyde Roberson said.Roberson and other city leaders wanted skateboarders to have a spot of their own, a safe place that's out of the way of cars and pedestrians.\"It's really helped the skateboarders here and (kept them) off of benches and retaining walls and, of course, you're going to have (that still) but now we have a space where they can gather,\" Roberson said.Monterey skateboarders took over the skate park Saturday, breaking in the new course.\"With this new Monterey park, I can learn a lot of new tricks and a lot of new stuff and have fun,\" 11-year-old skateboarder Kalani Hutchison said.Skateboarders are required to wear a helmet while using the park or they could face a $100 ticket."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.ksbw.com/article/el-estero-skate-park-opens-up-in-monterey/1297057>