By Megan Ma

town crier file photo A skateboarder board slides on a rail at Hillview’s temporary skate park.

Skateboarders and their fellow long-boarders are now one step closer to their long-held wish. Taking cues from several articulate teens, the five members of the Parks, Arts & Recreation Commission (PARC) voted June 21 to forward a recommendation to the city council for the development of a permanent skate park in Los Altos.

The recommendation, if approved by the city council, would place the skate park in queue for city capital improvement projects.

Since a temporary skate park in front of the Hillview Community Center was dismantled in May 2004, members of the city’s Youth Commission have quietly pursued a permanent park.

Recreation Director David Brees explained that securing a recommendation was an important first step. “We’ll be asking the council to put (the project) on an unscheduled list of its capital improvement projects until a funding source is secured for construction and a location approved,” he said. Residents, including parents of skateboarders, he said, had already expressed strong interest in funding such a project. The city would be responsible for upkeep and maintenance fees.

As requested by the PARC, youth commissioners established a skate park subcommittee in December 2004 to evaluate preliminary skate park plans. The PARC specifically requested the youth commission investigate skate parks located adjacent to Los Altos and make recommendations for location, type, construction and operating cost estimates.

Assisted by Recreation Department Supervisor Donna Legge, Jeffrey Bien and Brandon Angelo, former chairman and vice chairman of the Youth Commission, respectively, delivered a presentation at the meeting, highlighting the pros and cons of several park locations in Los Altos.

Out of five possible locations including Shoup, McKenzie and Rosita parks, the two recent high school graduates recommended the lawn area in front of the

Los Altos Youth Center near city hall.

Gathering cost estimates for various skate park designs around the Bay Area, Bien and Angelo estimated construction costs for a Los Altos park would run between $175,000 and $200,000. An approximately 5,000 to 10,000-square-foot park would incorporate beginning-to-intermediate skill level elements and cost the city approximately $3,000 to $10,000 a year to operate without supervision.

Private donations would probably subsidize approximately 90 percent of the construction and operating cost, according to the report.

Bien, a recent Pinewood School graduate who will attend Georgetown University this fall, argued that a skate park, if constructed with high-end materials, would offset maintenance expenses in the future. He noted the commission’s approving nods.

“It’s very apparent that there’s a strong need in the city for a skate park. Parents and kids have come forth with enthusiastic support. I think it will be a revitalizing aspect for the city,” Bien said.

The city council may agree to proceed with the PARC recommendation, reject it outright or recommend a different course of action at the July meetings, Legge said.

“It’s unpredictable at this point how long the process could take. Each step, hiring a consultant, securing funding, can take a long time. But we’re glad the project is at least moving forward,” Legge said.