It’s unusual for anything in this city, especially a project with an ocean view, to be built within a month. But then, nothing about the saga of converting a portion of the Great Highway into a park has been usual. 

Nevertheless, on Friday morning, dozens came to the city’s edge to christen San Francisco’s newest skate park, which took exactly one month to build. The all-ages crowd celebrated with kickflips, boardslides, and the occasional slam. 

Among the most daring skaters at the park was William Montgomery, a soft-spoken 10-year-old with a penchant for vertical ramps and big, gnarly bowls. Clad in pads that looked twice his size, he careened around the ramps, waves crashing in the background as he shot off ledges and hit kickflips with casual steez. For him, the park is not nearly as epic as the one he normally goes to, in Potrero Hill, but he appreciates that it has more room for street skating, a style he’s been venturing into lately. All in all, he’s just glad to have another park in his hometown. 

“The pump track is nice — you can get a lot of speed on it,” Montgomery said of the neighboring bike course. “The new ramp is very smooth, and since I’m a transition skater, that’s what I like.”

Situated at the southern boundary of the Outer Sunset, where Sloat Boulevard meets Sunset Dunes, the series of concrete ramps, ledges, banks, and railings is the latest addition to the most controversial two-mile promenade on the West Coast. The skate park is geared toward beginners but has features for skaters at all levels. 

“It’s pretty hard to not want to go ride a skate park that’s at the beach,” said Aaron Breetwor, the founder of Comet Skateboards and director of Skateable Cities, a Mission-based nonprofit that works to make the activity more equitable and accessible.

The skate park — which cost $80,000, paid for by the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department — came together remarkably quickly, especially given the glacial pace for most development projects. The features were designed by the agency in collaboration with local skate leaders, including Ashley Rehfeld and Chris Long, and fabricated by Kanfoush Custom Concrete, which is owned by professional skater Austin Kanfoush. The rapid pace of construction meant there was little time for input from the community.

“There’s been a lot of resistance to the transition for the Great Highway into Sunset Dune park, so getting this done quickly was an important part in making sure that it happens at all,” Breetwor said. “Most skate parks should go through some sort of formal meeting process with design outreach so the community can engage formally. That didn’t happen with this facility, but the city was working with people who have worked on hundreds of projects like this.”

As for the conditions, it’s not a matter of if fog and sand will degrade the park but when. To slow the process, there will be volunteer stewards from the organizations involved, and a box with brooms and a leafblower has been placed behind the ramps. 

With the exception of Waller Street Skatepark, which is buttressed against Golden Gate Park, the city’s skate parks are designed for advanced skaters who are comfortable getting off the ground or dropping in on big ramps. This park, by comparison, is for everyone.

“I think this is a really good example of a place that already feels safe and accessible,” said Breetwor.