Round Rock skate park, dude

Final plans for the Round Rock skate park were presented to a group of area skaters. Construction starts in January.

In the old days, Round Rock parks department staff members didn't understand terms like "death box" and "love seat.

" But after more than a year of meeting with skateboarders, they've picked up the lingo. The city has been working with local skateboarders and a skate park design company in Seattle to build a 12,200-square-foot park on vacant land behind the Clay Madsen Recreation Center on Gattis School Road. And last week, about 20 skateboarders showed up to review the final plans for the $390,000 park mdash; their park mdash; because the city and skate park designer Grindline included the skateboarders in every step of the process.

So what was the consensus among skateboarders about the plans? Most were appreciative and excited. Some expressed frustration at the estimated summer opening, but all in good fun.

"Why can't it be tomorrow?" one asked. Since their hobby is unwelcome in many public places, skaters practice wherever they can.

In the Round Rock area, they skate after school lets out at campuses that have outside concrete stairs, curbs and other street features that provide a challenge. Matt Messner, the owner of Mustache Skateboards on Gattis School Road, said the skate park will not only be good for business mdash; his shop is across the street mdash; but it will also provide a place where skateboarders do not have to worry about being told to leave. The city's original plan was to spend only about $100,000 on the park, Park Development Manager David Buzzell said.

Then, a year and a half ago, Round Rock held a demo for skateboarders. "We knew we had skateboarders in the area," he said. "This opened our eyes.

" So many skateboarders showed up that the city added a second phase to the project, for which bidding will start after the first phase is completed by Grindline in March. At last week's meeting, Grindline representative Micah Shapiro presented his design, which was created from multiple focus group sessions with area skateboarders. The first phase includes a 4,700-square-foot "bowl" that is rounded, not square like the one in Austin, Shapiro told the group.

The curved bowl will have a "deep end" and "shallow end" for skating "transitions." Many skateboarding terms are associated with swimming pools because the sport started in empty pools, Shapiro said. The second phase is a street course with steps and a rail, along with more rigid concrete edges on regular pedestrian areas.

And FYI , for those not on the parks staff: A "love seat" in a skate park is much like a shallow area in a pool where swimmers can sit, and "death box" comes from the rectangular drain in a pool and is an obstacle that the skateboarder must maneuver around.