LEWISTON – A Lewiston park for skateboarders would go downtown in Kennedy Park, councilors decided Tuesday.

City recreation officials and local businesses will now work on raising the money to pay for the park.

“I have a very good feeling about this,” said recreation director Maggie Chisholm. “I think the kids really want it, and I think they’ll show respect for it.”

The Lewiston skate park is still almost a year away. With Tuesday’s decision, work could begin on the Lewiston Park as early as next spring.

The park would be the second planned for Twin Cities.

Auburn is expected to open its skate park, which will provide pavement and jumps in the old tennis courts off Chestnut Street, as soon as spring 2005. Students from Auburn Middle School have been leading that effort, agreeing to raise $5,000 on their own to get $76,000 in Community Development Block Grant money.

So far, the students have raised all but $500, according to adviser Sue Meyers.

“Keep in mind, this really is sport,” said Mark Adams, assistant Auburn city manager. “The things these kids do are very athletic and they can be very good. So we’re trying to help them get a facility that they can take care of, and call home.”

Students would help set the rules at the Auburn park, deciding how it gets used and when it opens and closes.

Lewiston officials considered two sites for the park: Kennedy Park across from the Police Station, and Marcotte Park behind the Colisee and Lewiston High School.

The Kennedy Park site makes the skateboarders more visible, and that helps in two ways, Chisholm said. It makes it easier for the city to supervise the park, and it makes it more fun for the skateboarders to show off.

Plus, she expects the skateboarders to police themselves.

“I think this is something they really want, and I think they’ll take care of it,” Chisholm said. “It’s something they are anxious to get and anxious to keep once they have it.”

Chisholm said skateboarders and local businesses now need to come up with between $75,000 and $150,000 to buy the equipment and build the park.

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