Listen. Hear it? The sound gets closer: click, click, click. It’s the fast rolling sound of plastic wheels on the sidewalk.

A young man wearing loose clothing appears. Suddenly, you hear a thud and you see a skateboard hit the ground. The young man climbs on it again with confidence and ease.

Skaters in Campustown are often confronted by police and store owners, who want them gone. Pedestrians may give them dirty looks, yet the skateboarders return to their Campustown hangout everyday to feed their passion for skating.

“Skateboarders pose an appearance problem and this makes it hard to run a business,” said JoAnn Clarke, an employee of Blimpie Subs and Salads on Welch Avenue.

David Orth, retail manager of T-Galaxy, also expressed his concern about appearance. “The skateboarders’ presence may make customers think we are not open,” he said. The front of T-Galaxy is a popular skateboarding spot.

But neither Blimpie nor T-Galaxy officials said they have lost money because of the skateboarders. In fact, Orth said the skateboarders may even be good for business because they attract people.

The skateboarders themselves have been patrons of Blimpie and T-Galaxy. But — in a move that may symbolize their strange organizational power — the skateboarders have recently decided to boycott Blimpie because they feel they are being unnecessarily harassed by restaurant officials.

The skateboarders say they are not hurting anything or anyone.

“We are just hanging out and having fun skating,” said Max Highland, a senior at Ames High School and avid skateboarder.

Most Campustown merchants disagree. Many see the kids as a nuisance and a menace. Clarke said the skaters are a danger to themselves and others because they don’t always pay attention to where they are going.

“Campustown is a high-traffic area and doesn’t need the addition of skaters,” Clarke said. “It’s sad because they are just a tragedy waiting to happen.”

Ryan Witt, a sophomore at ISU, walks past the skaters daily and fears for his safety. “Sometimes you wonder if you are going to keep your feet because they cut right in front of you,” Witt said.

Witt Siasoco, a junior at ISU and also an avid skater, claims that a skateboarder has just as much control as a bicyclist.

Derek Terrones, another avid skateboarder, agrees. Terrones wonders why bikers and rollerbladers aren’t seen as a danger in Campustown because they speed along the sidewalks and can hit people, too, he said.

T-Galaxy and Blimpie officials claim skateboarders also damage property. In the past, they’ve destroyed shrubs and chipped outdoor picnic tables at Blimpie, costing the restaurant about $1,000 in repairs that have yet to be made, officials said.

“These kids are good kids,” said Clarke. “They don’t willfully destroy anything, but as a result of skateboarding they do.”

Clarke would like to give the skaterboarders a place to go, but doesn’t have the funds to do so. Until the city can provide a place to skateboard, Clarke will continue to call the Ames Police Department for routine problems that arise from the skateboarders.

Blimpie is not the only business in Campustown to call the police with complaints about skateboarders. Last Wednesday, seven skateboarders were charged with criminal trespassing for skating behind the post office in Campustown. The skaters were ticketed and their boards were confiscated.

Three of the skaters were juveniles and taken to jail.

The other four adult skaters were released. All skateboarders ticketed must show up in court on Oct. 8 to have their fines assessed.

Doug McQueen, one of those arrested, did not realize skating behind the post office was prohibited.

However, Jim Robinson, an Ames Police Department sergeant, said the skaters “have been warned before about skating in this area. We were just responding to the complaints made.”

Will Figgens, a skateboarder, said he sees drunk drivers come through Campustown just about every night and doesn’t understand why he and other skaters are being arrested when the police could be concentrating on the more serious crimes.

Other skaters agree. They feel police officers would be doing a greater service to the community if they left the Campustown skaters alone.

After all, “isn’t skating better than doing crack?” asked Jamie Galandon, Campustown skater.

Skaters feel they are being singled out by authorities because of their appearances.

“People have a bad image of skaters. They think we all smoke pot and drink beer,” Highland said.

Siasoco helped form the ISU Skating Club in order to change this image.

The club’s goal is to make it easier for skaters to find a place to skate.

Siasoco said, “Skating in Campustown is ridiculous, but we don’t have a place to go.” Skateboarders seem to meet resistance wherever they skate.

That’s a problem Clarke can sympathize with.

“I don’t understand why the city doesn’t do something for these kids,” he said.

“The city has bike paths for bikers and parks for people to play volleyball and softball in. Why can’t the city provide a place for these kids to go?”

That may soon happen.

Barry Nadler, co-owner of T-Galaxy and an attorney, is helping to find the skaters a alternative area. Nadler, working with The Boys and Girls Club in Ames, said officials have plans to build a new facility on South 5th Street.

Nadler hopes a skating rink will be incorporated into the facility.

“We have been exploring our options and trying to see if there is some land available,” said Larry Ricketts, board president for The Boys and Girls Club. “Very few Boys and Girls Clubs have skating rinks and the biggest problem, from a liability standpoint, appears to [be] supervision.”

Skaters approve of Nadler’s plan to find a new place to skate. Skateboarders said they don’t want to cause problems, they simply want to skate.

To them skating is like an art, an expression of themselves.

Skateboarders ask that the next time you hear it — the click, click, click — think of a young man doing a little soul searching, not looking for trouble.