Ames skateboarders and inline skaters will soon have a place to call their own as construction wraps up on a community skate park in development by the city of Ames.

The 10,500 square foot skate park is located on Iowa State University land, on the south side of 6th Street, adjacent to Brookside Park. After three months of construction and some setbacks due to rain, the park is scheduled to open in mid September.

Just designing the park was a drawn-out process in itself.

“We hired a group out of California, who had designed between 35-50 parks such as ours to come out and design the skate park,” says Nancy Carroll, director of parks and recreation.

“They came out twice, and met with actual skaters to work on the design.”

Skaters in the Ames community not only helped out with the design, but also with the rules and guidelines of the park, such as no littering, and keeping the grounds nice.

“We are hoping it can govern itself; the older ones can help out the younger ones. We hope it is a really positive experience for everyone,” Carroll says. “A lot of skateboarders and inliners have a bad rap and get in trouble for skating.

“We want our park to be challenging and safe without the conflicts of pedestrians and cars,” Carroll says.

Max Highland, local skater and employee at Daydreams Skate Shop, 2408 Lincoln Way, has been on various committees over the last few years working toward getting a skate park in Ames.

He says he is happy about the construction of the park, but feels it has been a long time in coming.

“This should have happened ten years ago,” Highland says.

Elements from various locations frequented by skaters were included in the design of the skate park. Parks Library, the Community Center, Durham and the Ames Public Library are all represented in the design, along with sloping walls and ramps to make for an easy transition from one area to another.

“It is mostly stuff the kids are used to, or at least very similar,” Highland says.

“It will be good for kids to learn, get some experience.”

The park will include some helpful instruction for those less experienced skaters.

“We are making it the safest we can by color coding,” Carroll says. “There will be a four-level, color-coded chart, with beginner, intermediate, advanced, and expert levels.”

The park is free to the public, will not be fenced in, and will be open during the daylight hours. Helmets, kneepads, and elbow pads are recommended, but not enforced while using the park.

The one major rule of the skate park: No bikes allowed.

“The park wasn’t designed for bikes,” Carroll says.

“It is a safety issue. The parks are built differently for skateboards and inline skates than for bikes. Also, bikes would damage the park.”

Carroll says the park cost an estimated $200,000 to build, with a total of $135,000 coming from the Ames City Council. Assisting in the funding was also a grant for $50,000 from the state of Iowa.

Private funding helped cover the rest. About $35,000 was raised from donations from organizations, bake sales and T-shirt sales run by the Ames community skaters themselves, Carroll says.

To celebrate the opening of the facility, there will be a ribbon cutting on October 5, at 10 a.m. at the skate park, hosted by Mayor Ted Tedesco, with city and university officials in attendance.

Following the ribbon cutting, the Mayor’s Youth Commission of Ames High will be putting on a skating exhibition for those in attendance, demonstrating the skills of area skaters.

Highland says there is one addition he would like to someday see.

“To put the cherry on the park, they need a half pipe,” Highland says.

“It’s essential. The kids will love it.”