*** Kelso Struggles To Find Skate Park Money ***

Kelso, Washington -- 09/23/2007
If the city of Kelso wins a $150,000 state grant for a
long-awaited skateboard park, the community should
be prepared to pony up more cash.

The two state grants the city is applying for both require a 50
percent match, said Community Development Director Mike Kerins.
The anticipated cost of the skate park in North Kelso has risen to
$300,000, he said Friday.

City Council members asked Tuesday if the value of the land on
which the park will be built may be counted toward the city's match.
The answer is no, Kerins said. However, the value of volunteer labor
to build and landscape the park will count, "so that's something we're
going to look into," he said.

The grant application for the state Community Trade and Economic
Development grant is Oct. 1. If the city wins the grant, it must come
up with $150,000 by February, Kerins said. If Kelso can't cough up the
money by then, its application will be withdrawn, and the city will try
for a second $150,000 grant from another state agency next spring,
he said.

"The idea is, let's not stop trying for this grant," Kerins said.
"We're still trying to breathe life into this whole thing."

Kelso Rotary has donated $45,000 toward the project. In April, an
anonymous donor promised $10,000 if the community would match
it. So far, roughly $5,000 has been generated through fundraisers
and donations. The City Council offered to chip in $20,000 as well.

That's a total of $95,000, meaning there's only $55,000 to go before
reaching the $150,000 match amount, according to The Daily News'
calculations. The Kelso City Council has allocated up to $17,000 to hire
grantwriter Anne O'Connor, a consultant for the Longview consulting
firm On the Mark, to apply for funding for the skate park.

Kerins said O'Connor also will resubmit a grant application to the Tony
Hawk Foundation, which was established by professional skateboarder
Tony Hawk to help build public skate parks in low-income communities.

In February, Kelso officials learned the foundation had rejected its
application for $25,000 partly because the competition was fierce
and partly because Hawk didn't like Kelso's proposed skate park design.
Hawk suggested that instead of building two concrete bowls separated by
some stairs and railings, the city build just one bowl and add more
street-skating elements so the venue would appeal to skaters of all
skill levels.

The city may ask Grindline Skateparks, Inc., to revise the original plans
to conform to Hawk's suggestions, Kerins said, adding that he hopes
Grindline can "plug something else in" and not charge the city for the
design change. The Seattle-based design company created the two-bowl
design for $17,000 after meeting with Cowlitz County skateboarders in
2005 to find out what they wanted.

The skate park will be built at the corner of Minor Road
and Burcham Street, a site that's visible from Interstate 5.

Plan-Z skateboard shop owner Jeremy Hooper has held three
fundraisers this year that generated nearly $2,000. The last one
he did a few weeks ago at Three Rivers Mall turned out to be a
"flop" due to lack of advertising and raised a little more than
$100, Hooper said Friday.

He hopes to do another video premiere screening in Kelso soon with
some "huge names" from the skateboarding industry in attendance,
he said.

"I think we're getting within reach (of the $150,000).
I sort of lost a little bit of my steam," Hooper said.