Skate Lewiston Auburn Movement is $75,000 short of its goal to build an outdoor skate arena in Kennedy Park. Of the projected $242,000 it will cost to build the arena, organizers have raised or received pledges of about $165,000, which is a tremendous statement of community support. However, some contributors are wondering what skaters are doing to raise money.

What indeed.

This is a project skaters say they’re excited about, but do not appear overly willing to work toward.

When a call went out in May to raise money, no skaters volunteered. One teen said he was “allergic” to the concept.

That seems short-sighted, as Josh Nagine, owner of Twin City Boarders, has already pointed out.

If skaters don’t raise money and jump in to help steer this project, they’re going to get a park designed by adults, and it might not be what they want.

Several years ago in Oxford Hills, skaters took a public skate park project on themselves. They raised money for it, argued for it before government committees and had decision-making authority on the design. They got exactly what they wanted, because they worked for it.

That commitment must be demonstrated in Lewiston-Auburn.

On Thursday, skaters Jon Austin and Brooks Noddin signed up to raise money for the park. It’s a start. But it’s not enough.