Donations surpass goal for Paia skate park repairs
Youth center’s facility worn down by weather and ocean spray
After many years of salty ocean spray and wind, the perimeter fence of the StoneWave Skate Park in Paia is rusting and needs repair.
Located just off the shore next to Paia Bay at the Paia Youth and Cultural Center, the skate park is the playing grounds for hundreds of local skaters under the age of 19. Park leaders have been asking for the community’s support in maintaining the facility to ensure it’s safe to use in the future.
“StoneWave is the only adult-monitored skate park in Maui County, which I think is crucial,” added executive director Susun White on Monday afternoon, noting how supervision creates safer conditions for the keiki.
Skateboarding is also a fun activity for kids from all different backgrounds and ethnicities, White said via phone, and is a way for them to stay active and involved with their peers, even throughout the COVID19 pandemic.
The Paia Youth and Cultural Center shut down briefly in 2020, but was then the first youth center to reopen for inperson services with health and safety protocols “because I have amazing staff,” she said.
“I really believe kids need face-to-face social contact,” she added. “We’re doing good. We have a lot of community support — parents are extremely grateful to us and the kids are too. It’s been a little trying because of all the mandates, but the kids are doing really good.”
The skate park, which is 10,750 square feet and consists of a multilevel pool area, a ledge and a mini-ramp, is in need of fencing renovations after years of enduring weather and ocean spray.
A GoFundMe was created on Oct. 23 to raise funds to cover repair and replacement costs to the chain-linked fence and metal fence, which was estimated at about $8,000 by Valley Isle Fencing.
It may be about four to five months before construction can even start because there is no fencing available on Maui. In the meantime, the skate park will remain open.
As of Monday, the fundraiser had gathered $8,755, surpassing the nonprofit’s goal of $8,000, which is “pretty cool,” White said. Leftover money will be used to cover the GoFundMe fees and other overflowing costs of construction.
The “best part” about the fundraiser is that some of the nearly 100 donors are alumni who are giving back to the youth center, she added.
Nonprofit Paia Youth Council Inc., which operates the Paia Youth and Cultural Center, has been developing, designing, fundraising and constructing the skate park since 1996.
The purpose of the youth center is to “provide a safe place emotionally and physically for the youth of Paia and surrounding communities which offers a variety of social, educational, cultural, vocational and recreational activities.”
According to the website, funding for StoneWave has been primarily from Maui County grants, an Atherton Foundation grant, a Cooke Foundation grant, the endorsement and a grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation, logistics support from A&B Properties Inc. and the Taste of North Shore fundraiser, as well as community donations and supportive labor from volunteers.
The skate park, which requires a membership fee to access, is open from 2 to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday. Members between the ages of 9 and 19 must have a completed Paia Youth and Cultural Center membership form, health form and skate park waiver.
To donate, visit gofund.me/ 460e9bcd.
For more information, www .pyccmaui.org/.