By Jamye Durrance

Staff writer

NEW SMRYNA BEACH - There are still construction trucks unloading last-minute items and the layer of sod hasn't quite grown together at the city's new skate park.

But that only intensifies Tony Misiano's excitement as he stands above the massive eight-foot deep pool describing the intricate dips, turns and curves.

"It has progressions," he said. "No one will ever get bored."

Local company Misiano Construction, Inc. was responsible for constructing the 7,500-square-foot park over the past six months.

The park, located on the corner of Turnbull Street and Industrial Park Avenue, is scheduled to have a soft opening this weekend and an official grand opening on Saturday, Feb. 28.

For Mr. Misiano and members of the city's skate park committee, the ribbon cutting and champagne toast is long overdue.

More than five years ago, when city officials announced they were devoting money to fix up the city's current rusty skate park on Julia Street, some area residents and skateboarders got an idea.

Why not use that money to build a new and more improved skate park?

The group decided to pursue a Volusia County ECHO Grant, which provides funding for public use recreation projects.

Member Danny Young said the committee pulled an all-nighter to write the grant application and turned it in just under the deadline.

"I honestly thought there was no way we were getting it," Mr. Young said.

But they did.

Then, the city applied for a grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation, an outreach program started by the professional skater to build public skate parks.

In the end, the city received $229,000 in grants to build the park and the city chipped in $142,000.

"It is surreal," Mr. Young said, looking around at the park. "Everything's been so surprising."

Now, as the finishing touches are added, the committee is excited to show off their baby - and they won't have to wait long.

The Florida Bowlrider Cup, a professional and amateur competition that is part of the World Cup of Skateboarding, will be held at the park on Saturday, March 7. Almost 50 people, including some members of the skate park committee, have already registered, according to the Florida Bowlrider Cup Web site.

The 3-day competition will start at Kona Skate Park in Jacksonville, one of the oldest skate parks in the state, and end at Cocoa Beach Skate Park.

Once everybody has gotten a taste of the park, they will be back, said Mike Duncan, a skate park committee member.

"It's one of the best skate park pools in Florida," he said.

Mr. Misiano said that without the team effort the park might still be on the drawing board.

"Everybody pitched in," he said. "It's a collaborative effort. This was all skater-made."

The group takes their skating seriously, too.

There are already black marks along the edges of the pool where committee members have been grinding their boards.

Every detail was taken into consideration including a "Skate Art" bench that was donated by construction and design partners Team Pain Enterprises. The bench is specially designed to be part of the skate arena.

Mr. Duncan said he can't wait to see the kids, teens and adults come out and experience the park.

"Take the most-used park in the area," he said. "This will be used 10 times that."

Mr. Duncan hopes that this new park will draw more people to skateboarding.

"(With skateboarding), kids set goals for themselves," he said. "They keep doing it again and they feel a sense of accomplishment. It's good for kids. It's healthy and it's good for the mind."

The next step for the group is expansion. They still have more land that can be developed and plan to try for another ECHO Grant to build a "green" building and put in solar panels.

For more information at the city's new skate park, visit www.nsbskate.com.