A Good Ride: Kuko Padilla keeps Racine's skatepark flowing

Kuko Padilla installs a skate rail on Wednesday at the Racine skateboard park.
Padilla is hosting the 12th annual "Racine Bike Jam" on Saturday from noon to 10 p.m. at the park.
The event is free and open to the public.

Kuko Padilla sat in front of the city's Finance and Personnel Committee on Monday night. For the first time in 12 years, he needed a favor from the city's governing body. His argument was simple, and convincing: He'd earned it.

Flash ahead two days to Wednesday evening. Padilla, 35, is working in the middle of the skateboard park at Pershing Park. While guys around him attempt kickflips and jump spines, Padilla is running a generator and drilling a new guard rail into concrete. He paid to rent the generator and an air hammer, and he'll be there late into the night building and fixing the ramps used by hundreds of Racine kids and adults every summer. Padilla has been doing this work since the skate park opened. He's never been paid.

During the Finance and Personnel Committee, he faces a tough crowd. The committee doesn't like to waive fees completely, and one member admits to voting "like scrooge." (They often agree to cut a fee in half for groups that want to use city parks for events.) Padilla is asking the aldermen to waive a $318 fee to use the park for his 12th annual Bike Jam on Saturday (Aug. 29) from noon to 10 p.m. It's an odd formality given the skate park is free and open to the public all day long. But Padilla plans to have bands and food at the free event, and that triggered the need for the fee - unless he could convince the City Council to waive it.

Padilla tells the committee he's volunteered his time, and used his own money, to maintain and expand the skate park. This year alone he built a new "Hubble ramp and rail" - a sizable jump for skateboarders - and replaced worn surfaces that were falling into disrepair. Without Padilla's effort, it's work that would have fallen to the city. No doubt city workers could handle the maintenance, but they'd do it like a paid job. Padilla brings a different feel.

A Racine native, Padilla grew up on a BMX bike wishing the city had a park for bikers and skaters to fly around. After Dave Namowicz convinced the city to build the public skate park in Pershing Park, Padilla took on the job of keeping it around. He didn't know a thing about carpentry, but over time picked up the skills needed to build and re-build every ramp on site.

His work, and just his presence, grant him a deeper role. He's a supervisor, role model and mentor for the kids and young adults who flock to the skate park throughout the summer. If a fight breaks out, Padilla will throw out both kids and then counsel them when they inevitable return the next day. When bikes were being stolen a few years ago, Padilla confronted the kids suspected of taking them. The thefts stopped.

Padilla will also teach younger riders how to traverse the jumps and ramps - and to overcome the fear of vaulting 15 feet in the air and landing on what amounts to concrete. "You don't think we were afraid?" he'll tell kids eyeing their first jumps. "You just have to overcome it."

Padilla is the model of a resident invested in a city service. He's never paid for his work, which he slots in between his full-time job running a lawn care company and spending time with his family. (He used to use his three weeks of vacation from his job at UPS to work on the park.) He just keeps showing up because he loves the park, sees how much other people love it, and wants to keep it in shape for the new riders that appear every year.

"It's a love of the sport," Padilla said, answering the "why do this?" question. "I always wanted my own park, and now I have my own park. This provides a lot of kids in Racine with a place to go."

(For anyone wondering about the city's unions, an agreement was worked out a few years ago to allow volunteers - mainly Padilla - to work on the skate park without violating contracts.)

On Wednesday, Padilla looks around and calls the younger riders the "8th or 9th" generation to discover and use the park. One little guy, no older than 8, launches his bike up a ramp, lands on his back wheel and glides to a stop pumping his fist with excitement. It's the first time he's landed the trick and his face beams through his helmet.

Padilla knows most of the guys at the park Wednesday night, but he keeps to himself. Nobody offers to help, and Padilla does nothing to bring attention to his work. He's sincere in his effort. It's the type of commitment that should be rewarded.

At Monday's committee meeting, the aldermen seem skeptical. One asks to see receipts and a log of Padilla's hours, but Parks Director Donnie Snow assures Padilla does "some work" at the park. "He's put in more than $318," Snow says.

Alderman Bob Anderson finally moves to waive the entire fee and the committee votes unanimously to support it. They even agree to waive a $200 deposit usually required to ensure the park is cleaned up after events.

Wednesday night, Padilla said he was relieved. He and his wife, Rebecca, are planning to spend $300 to $400 on brats and hot dogs for Saturday's Bike Jam. They'll grill all the food and sell it for $1 to $2, too little to break even. But the event isn't about making money, Padilla said. He doesn't even advertise it's going on. The date just spreads through word of mouth and people turn out for one last ride before the end of the summer.

"A lot of good riding goes down," said Padilla, who's anticipating 300 people at the event.

A skateboarder attempts a jump off of the "Hubble ramp" Padilla built at the Racine skate park.

In preparation, Padilla will be at the skate park all week wrapping up projects and building a temporary stage for the bands. With a family now and his own company, Padilla admits working on the skate park creates some tension. He scaled back his time at the park this summer, but still put in dozens of hours of work.

"I don't want to give it up," he said, admitting eventually he may have to walk away from the role he's filled for years. But it won't happen this year. He's got too much work to do before Saturday's Bike Jam and still feels a responsibility to the park that's given so much.

"I want to be a good user," Padilla said. "This is something for every kid ... I want to keep that."

Saturday's "Racine Bike Jam" runs from noon to 10 p.m. and is open to the public. Bring your skateboard, bike, scooter, rollerblades, or just a camera, down to the skate park along Pershing Park Drive just east of the YMCA building. Brats and hot dogs will be available for sale, along with soda and Gatorade. Bands play from 5-10 p.m.