LEWISTON – Local skaters need to step forward if they want a Lewiston skate park to succeed.

“I’m going to be real disappointed if the kids don’t get out and make this happen,” said Tim McNaught, a local skater and co-owner of Twin City Boarders. “They need to care. They can’t sit back and hope their parents do it for them.”

McNaught, another 27 local skaters and 15 parents met Thursday night to discuss building a skate park somewhere in downtown Lewiston.

It was the first public meeting of SLAM, the Skate Lewiston-Auburn Movement. Organizers are hoping to build a $400,000 park, with 15,000 square feet of concrete ramps, stairs, half-pipes and landscaping.

Pat Butler, a parent and co-chairman of SLAM, said the group has already secured $54,000 in corporate pledges. The group has created a 10-minute video presentation to show to those groups.

“But everything builds on everything else,” Butler said. “The people always ask, who else is donating?”

Getting buy-in from the city will help, Butler said.

“But it’s really up to you guys,” McNaught told the group of skaters. “You need to be active and in the public to make this happen. You have to do the bottle drives and talk to other kids and not just sit back and wait.”

Parent Chuck Lafear, of 86 Orchard St. in Auburn said skaters need to be aware that the public is watching them, too.

“It’s going to be up to you to change perceptions,” Lafear said. “People are going to be watching you when they’re thinking about this, and thinking about putting money into it.”

Work could begin on the Lewiston park as early as next spring, Butler said. The group is interviewing architects and trying to raise money in hopes of paying for the entire park with donated money.

Organizers favor semi-recessed designs similar to popular parks in Fitchburg, Mass., and Newberg, Ore. Those parks are recessed, like swimming pools. Builders add ramps, bowls and other features. Then everything is coated with concrete.

But organizers are not sure where the park would go. City councilors have agreed to set aside space in Kennedy Park, but parent Linda Daigle, of 8 Woodville Road, said she’s afraid of that area’s reputation.

“I’m not a snob, but Kennedy Park definitely has a reputation,” Daigle said. “I’m not sure I’d feel right about setting my son loose there.”

Co-chairman Josh Nagine said Kennedy Park was only one option. Organizers are considering Marcotte Park, near Lewiston High School.

The park is the second planned for the Twin Cities. Auburn is expected to open its own skate park in the old tennis courts off Chestnut Street next spring. That would be a much less ambitious park, featuring pavement and portable ramps. The cost is estimated at about $76,000.