The end of the Pala pool
It was about 5 years ago, when Vista resident Billy Green spotted a diving board in a property off the side of the road, while driving with his family to the Pala Casino. The house in the property was abandoned and some workers were putting boards across the windows. Billy was just getting into skating pools and later went back to that area, where he found two different pools: a square one and a right hand kidney. He skated the square one and found the kidney filled with manure, "some of the harshest stuff I've had to deal with", according to him. With his friends Jessee Parker and Rob "Slob" Weedman, he started cleaning the pools. But Javier, the local property caretaker wasn't having it and kept filling the pools back with dirt. This went on for about 3 months and the skaters kept coming back with shovels, taking out the dirt from inside the pool and around the decks, cleaning up the yard on the course of that year. Apparently, Javier then realized the intruders were taking care of the property. As it turned out he ended up befriending a lot of different skaters, eventually allowing them to skate the kidney bowl, as long as the property was kept clean.
For the next 4 years the Pala Round became perhaps the most famous permission pool of San Diego's North County. A variety of skaters came to visit, and the pool got featured in magazines and videos. For many, it became the first pool they had ever ridden. It had a design that suited skating, a variety of lines, a sunken love seat and challenging coping. Almost too good to be true, a perfect pool with an open fence, no house owners, no pad rules, no fees, no locals, no neighbors and open 7 days a week. You could skate with your friends, take photos and video and do almost anything you wanted for as long as you wanted without being harassed or arrested. The skaters took full advantage of it, of course. Parties were held and events were organized, with nighttime skating and bands. "We skated that place like it was the last session, every time,” says Green.
As of last year, the pool started becoming the high school party spot for kids that live in that area. Stories involving underage drinking, fights, and cops showing up signaled that the Pala pool may not be available for much longer. There was also a rumor about the road being rebuilt wider, with one more lane, but everything seemed normal last week when people were skating it. It wasn't until last Saturday morning that I realized this had been Pala's last week. The pool has been filled with dirt all the way to the coping and this time it seems unlikely skaters will be able to dig it out again.
R.I.P. Pala Pool, Rest In Peace
Story and photos by Dan Bourqui
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