A-Town Park, located here in Atascadero, is the main place where scooters, skateboarders, and rollerbladers/skaters meet to hang out with others who have the same passion. I interviewed Kevin Campion, the owner of A-Town Park, to find out more information about his background in the line of sports and details about the facility. Atown is an indoor skatepark, but they also have an outdoor section for more of a beginner division, which includes rails, ledges, and a few smaller ramps. Atown provides an after school program that runs from 2 pm-4 pm 5 days a week free of charge. After 4 pm, it costs $5 for the next 2 hours and they close at 6 pm. On Saturday, they are open from 12 pm-5 pm for $5, and on Sunday they are open from 12 pm-4 pm for also $5. Occasionally on Saturday mornings, they have a morning session from 10 am-12 pm where you can use $5 for the whole day until from 10 am-5 pm. Private parties are also available to book; on weekends from 10 am-12 pm and occasionally they offer 5 pm-7 pm on Saturdays.
He has been associated with the park for around 17 years, starting as a consultant at a skate shop called Mobley’s here in Atascadero. They ran the park in partnership with the city and after a few years, Mobley’s decided to close.
A-town park started when there was an earthquake in 2003. There was a little outdoor park on the same land as the printery building and when the earthquake occurred, that park closed down permanently. It is now private property. The building that Atown is currently located in was meant to be a teen center, but after the earthquake, they built the Colony Park Community Center, so the park was built in the prior teen center.
Kevin also owns the local skate shop called 805 Boardshop, which sells surfboards, skateboards, scooters, as well as some snowboarding equipment. Atown also sells scooters, roller skates, and skateboards if you need any gear from them. Kevin says “It’s not about what you ride, it’s how you ride.” A-town supplies a safe place for kids to learn new tricks, have support in their sport, and meet and hang out with new friends
