SANTA ANA, Calif.—What is usually a tidy park surrounded by a quiet neighborhood was instead met April 4 with a festive afternoon celebration of the city’s newest addition—a basketball court at Portola Park.
“You guys ready to make some noise!?” Santa Ana Parks and Recreation Executive Director Hawk Scott yelled into a loudspeaker as he pumped up the crowd of several hundred.
As children bounced new basketballs on their new brightly colored full court—funded by the local restaurant chain BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse—a three-man team from the Pasadena-based TNT Dunk Squad got acrobatic with an impressive array of slam dunk tricks.
The newly constructed basketball hoops proved to be solid as they withstood dunk after dunk by the squad who defied gravity using specialized trampolines that allowed them to fly at least 10 feet from the ground.
The restaurant chain worked with Project Backboard, a nonprofit that renovates public basketball courts, for the renovation.
“BJ’s wanted to give back to the community, and it makes sense with this basketball court because we are such big fans of the sport. Just come into any restaurant and you will see it on our TVs!” restaurant spokesperson Ali Burns told The Epoch Times.
The Orange County-based restaurant chain began its franchise in Santa Ana in the late 1970s as a single pizza shop. Now, it has 20 locations throughout the southland and has won numerous awards for its craft beers and deep-dish pizzas.
“A few months back [when] BJ’s was presented with the opportunity to refurbish the basketball court, our answer was a resounding yes,” BJ’s CEO Gregory Levin told the audience.
Those in attendance were also gifted with BJ’s popular dessert—the Pizookie, which consists of large baked cookies over ice cream—and samples of the restaurant’s deep-dish pizza slices.
“This is our home court, and this is where we started,” Levin said.
The new basketball court is now available for playing from 6 a.m. to sunset.
