An in-ground concrete skate bowl facility at Lyndon B. Johnson Park gets tested out by local skateboarders. San Antonio will see more skate parks starting in 2009, including one on the Northwest Side. Courtesy photo

Skaters on the Northwest Side will have a new place to show off their skills after San Antonio finishes building its planned skateboarding facility, the Nani Falcome Park.

The grounds, along with the slated Lackland Terrace and Rosedale Park, will give San Antonio bragging rights on destination skate parks similar to those under construction in cities such as Houston and Austin.

Voted on in the 2007 May bond election, $400,000 will be made available for Nani Falcome in early 2009, at which time the city will break ground on the project.

“Since the money is yet to be made available, there has been little work completed on the project to date,” said Rodney Dziuk, park projects manager with the city of San Antonio. “We will host public input on the facility as we get nearer to funding.”

The parks come at a time when the skateboarding movement is well into its second life, which began in the last decade. Along with a cemented role in the sports world, complete with Tony Hawk fan worship, what has also emerged is a need for a safe place for enthusiasts to try their latest moves. The issue has found itself in the city halls of communities all across the United States.

According to American Academy of Pediatrics, skateboard-related injuries account for an estimated 50,000 emergency department visits and 1,500 hospitalizations among children and adolescents in the U.S. each year.

Local skateboarding enthusiast Carter Dennis says the San Antonio Skate Park Association has been lobbying for safe skateboarding locations in the city since 1998. The skating community was thrilled to hear that the 2007 parks bond has passed and that the city plans three additional parks, he added. Skaters and the city plan to work together in developing the three parks.

“San Antonio has eight public skate parks that are very popular among skateboarders,” Dennis said. “However, many of these parks are smaller neighborhood parks and made of modular equipment.”

The new parks will emulate obstacles present in a real-life street environment such as steps, handrails, ledges and banks. Older skaters also requested transitional “bowl” elements.

“The skaters in San Antonio are looking forward to a well-built, well-designed skate park that can accommodate skaters of all skill levels,” Dennis said, adding that, at present, the skaters’ main concerned is hiring a proper designer for the projects.

Dziuk says he anticipates the city working with a design firm that specializes in skate parks and, while the materials used have not been decided on, city officials are leaning towards concrete for “longevity and satisfaction of skaters.”