Baseball players have baseball fields in Ames, golfers have golf courses, and soon skateboarders will have a skate park.

Nancy Carroll, director of Ames Parks and Recreation, said the sport of skateboarding has gained momentum in the community within the past 10 years, although it has been around for 30 years.

“I think that Ames really needs a facility like this,” she said.

Carroll said even though the plans are just in the beginning stages, it is something to be excited about.

“There is no place to really skate in Ames,” she said.

Skateboarding is prohibited in many parts of town, Carroll said, and people have been ticketed and even arrested for skating in those areas.

“Skateboarders are discouraged from skating around town,” she said.

Carroll said the parks and recreation department is planning to hold a meeting in mid-January to discuss plans for the park.

“We are looking at a couple of different sites at Brookside Park,” she said.

The skate park will be designed so that every skill level of skateboarder or in-line skater can enjoy it, Carroll said.

“People will be able to go there and learn or excel at the sport,” she said.

Zach Christensen, sophomore in graphic design, has been skateboarding in his leisure time for the past few years and thinks a public skate park is a good idea.

“There is really nowhere to skate in Ames,” he said.

Christensen said $20 tickets are given out on campus for skating on anything raised above the ground, such as stairs or handrails.

“A lot of small towns in Iowa have been building these skate parks lately, and they have turned out really well,” he said.

Christensen said he thinks the park will get a lot of use — definitely by him.

Although no specifics have been decided yet, Carroll said the city is guessing the project will receive contributions of $50,000 to $100,000, and the park should be constructed sometime in 2000 or 2001.