City of Long Beach, California
The City of Long Beach is pleased to provide a letter of reference for Spohn Ranch Skateparks. Recently, Spohn Ranch Skateparks completed the 14th Street Skatepark in Long Beach, California. From planning through construction, we are impressed with their knowledge, professionalism and unmatched quality service.
In addition to the expertise of Spohn Ranch Skateparks, we are particularly impressed with the unique design, which was a thoughtful integration combined with invaluable input from our community. As a result, our grand opening was a success, and we are pleased with the ongoing use of our facility by the local youth.
Should anyone wish to discuss this project further, I will be happy to provide an outstanding reference regarding your abilities.
Sandra J. Gonzalez
Manager – Planning and Development Bureau
City of Lathrop, California
I want to say a BIG “THANK-YOU” to you and all at Spohn Ranch, Inc. who helped to build the Lathrop Skate Park. We have been open for over a week now and everyone, skaters, kids, parents, neighbors, city council members, community members and recreation staff from other cities say we have one of the ‘sickest’ parks in the Central Valley! The skaters who make up the Lathrop Skatepark Committee are filled with pride because of what they have succeeded in doing – bringing a great skate park to our town.
Your staff helped to make critical improvements to the Site Design Group’s initial design for the Lathrop Skate Park, which not only saved the City of Lathrop valuable CIP funds but also made the park a better, more fun and safer place to play. I also have to compliment Damon Spohn and his crew, Michael Villalvazo, Joe Wagner, Michael Wiley and other staff that worked so hard to build our park in very difficult conditions. We had the hottest two weeks of the year and Damon and his crew worked long hours in grueling conditions often exceeding 100 degrees.
The craftsmanship is excellent and almost everyone asks’ “who built this park?” Luckily, and with great pride, I get to respond, “Spohn Ranch built our park!” Skaters give me knowing nods of appreciation whenever I say that, rolling away from me knowing that the premiere skate park manufacturing company on Planet Earth built the Lathrop Skate Park.
Thanks for all your hard work, your hours of phone calls and e-mails to make our park the success it is today. It has instantly become the busiest recreation facility in our town with 100 to 200 users a day.
Gabriel Goulart
Recreation Supervisor
Monmouth County Park System
As Senior Landscape Architect for the Monmouth County Park System it has been my responsibility to manage the construction of a skate park at Seven Presidents Ocean Front Park in Long Branch, New Jersey. The skate park is one component of various recreation improvements that were constructed over the past year. The hybrid skate park was installed by Spohn Ranch and includes a street course and a concrete bowl (California Skate Parks).
The quality of Spohn’s equipment speaks for itself and we have received many compliments from the users. It is their service that stands out most in my mind. For example, at their suggestion we set up a meeting to discuss any questions and comments our operations staff had and this proved to be very helpful. During construction an issue arose that was not within the scope of their work and would have compromised the final product. They not only brought this issue to my attention, but offered a solution that greatly improved the quality of the skate park. Finally, they made themselves available after construction was completed to answer questions from our maintenance staff.
Overall, my work experience with Spohn Ranch was a positive one and I recommend their services without reservations.
Robin Ostrowski
Senior Landscape Architect
City of West Bloomfield, Michigan
From the first day we opened the park we have had in excess of 50 participants at a time on the weekends. Even now a month later, we have at least 20 plus skaters from 2 pm until dinner time during the week. In our interviews of skaters, they indicate that this is the best designed park around. We have skaters traveling from all the surrounding communities. Many are driving as far as 20-30 miles. This has been a tremendous addition to our park system.
I also wanted you to know how well the installation process went. Your staff did an excellent job of installing the equipment and communicating with our staff as to their progress. They were very professional in their dealings with us and took the time to explain things when asked. They completed the project on time without any problems or setbacks. They did an excellent job in keeping the site clean. I wish that all our construction and installation projects went so smoothly.
It has been a pleasure to do business with you and the TrueRide team. Please let all your staff know how pleased we are.
David H. Burley
Deputy Director – West Bloomfield Parks and Recreation
City of Harrisonburg, Virginia
We were extremely pleased with our experience with TrueRide. They were receptive to our ideas, supplied expertise along with their product and were flexible during contract negotiation and construction. They absolutely delivered what they promised.
Lee Foerster
Director of Parks and Recreation
St. Charles, Illinois Park District
The St. Charles Park District has been very impressed with the professionalism of the TrueRide Inc. staff and the quality of their equipment. TrueRide Inc. constructed our first skate park in 2000. The skate park received rave reviews from the skate park users. Due to the success of our first skate park, TrueRide Inc. constructed our second skate park in 2003.
Denny Ryan
Superintendent of Parks
City of Virginia Beach, Virginia
TrueRide was able to customize a unique park for Virginia Beach that eagerly accommodates street and bowl users alike. The park emerged unscathed from the destructive wrath of Hurricane Isabel – a testament to its quality construction.
Brian Solis
Parks and Recreation Planner
City of Monticello, Minnesota
We began our quest to open a skate park completely unaware of how to even begin. The gang at TrueRide looked at our site and recommended a plan that fit our budget, but most importantly they created a park that the kids love. We have used TrueRide as a resource on operation issues, safety, maintenance, etc. They know what is happening in the industry and give great advice and guidance. Naturally, when we had the budget approved to add a bike park, TrueRide was our first and only call. They are knowledgeable and professional. They sell a very excellent product and stand behind it 100%.
Kitty Baltos
Community Center Director
City of Charleston, Illinois
The City of Charleston highly recommends TrueRide for the construction of your next Skate Park. TrueRide built Phase I of our skate park facility in 2001. Phase II (a half pipe) was built in 2002. Our skate park facility is now one of the best Bike/Skateboard parks in Southern Illinois. The staff at TrueRide has been extremely professional and great to work with from the beginning to the end. If you want the best, call TrueRide. You’ll be happy you did!
Scott Smith
Director of Parks and Recreation
City of Chanhassen, Minnesota
•TrueRide is not another Johnny-come-lately to the business. They have been there from the start.
•Installing TrueRide equipment is the best thing I have done in 17 years in the business.
•TrueRide makes the best ramp in the business. Just ask the kids.
•Dollar for Dollar buying TrueRide ramps is the best investment we have ever made in our park system.
Todd Hoffman
Park and Recreation Director
Hornell, New York Kiwanis Club
In the end, I decided to use TrueRide, as first and foremost they seemed the most interested in structural rigidity. They were also the most communicative and I felt they gave us the most bang for the buck. Bids received for similar construction (maybe not as structurally sound) were double in one case just to meet the structural rigidity that TrueRide offered. The park has been in place for a couple of years now and has weathered the Northeast- Buffalo area weather quite well.
Not that a lot of follow up has been needed, but staff at TrueRide have kept in touch as a follow up to the initial design and construction in the summer of 2001. Looking back at the project and at the other constructors available and the new constructors that have become available in the area, we would certainly do it all over again using TrueRide, a great builder in the industry. Should a phase II project come along we will certainly be offering it to TrueRide prior to any secondary constructors that may be out there.
Timothy J. Rosell
Skate Park Chair
Lindenhurst, Illinois Park District
It was a pleasure to not only work with TrueRide, but most importantly–what a great product they have. We believe TrueRide, based on first hand experience, is one of the best, if not the best, BMX/Skateboard park manufacturer around! Please add Lindenhurst Park District to your long list of satisfied customers. We certainly would recommend TrueRide to anyone, without hesitation.
Tom Lippert
Executive Director
Lattof YMCA – Des Plaines, Illinois
We wanted to build a top-notch skate park that would be free from daily maintenance, sharp looking, and what the kids wanted to skate. We interviewed and researched 4 companies with TrueRide coming out on top. From the kid’s point of view, they love it; the design, consistency, and the ride are awesome. From the Y members and neighbors point of view, it looks great, clean, professional, and filled with skaters; the positive energy created is contagious. From a Y directors point of view, It’s The Best…It’s located in front of our YMCA on a major highway—-it looks awesome, it’s going to last forever, I’ve got reps from TrueRide that call regularly to make sure everything is going great, and I know they’ll be here if we need them, although it looks like we will only need them for our next addition. We did this for the kids, so we wanted a company that would help us design and build a park that the kids would be proud of. Mission accomplished, we’re all proud of our park…Thanks to the folks at TrueRide.
Don Quinlan
Senior Program Director