It's been a long time in the making, but plans are finally coming together for a Los Gatos skate park to be constructed next to the old Balzer Field on Miles Avenue. A promise made to the town's youth is at long last being realized.

Credit Los Gatos Mayor Steve Glickman for taking a bulldog's approach on this matter. And he was there on July 20 when the town held a public workshop at the site to get the architects and community leaders together with the most important design team of all—the teenagers who will use the facility.

Teens and their parents turned out for the special meeting on Tuesday afternoon at the proposed site, a 22,000-square foot lot on Miles. The teens were there to show architects what they want—and don't want—at their skate park.

They don't want supervision, and they don't want to be required to wear special pads. They do want the park to be constructed out of concrete like the popular facility in Sunnyvale, with bowls, ramps, rails and other attractive features. They don't want the park to replicate the Campbell skate park where modular, above-ground ramps that make that facility less than desirable for Los Gatos skateboarders and skaters.

Now it's up to the Los Gatos Town Council to address the concerns of the teens when the issue comes up again on Aug. 16, and we urge the council members to listen closely to what they have to say.

As adults, we often tend to have ideas about what young people need and what they should have. We don't always understand what they want and what they will use—case in point, skate park facilities in Campbell and Saratoga that have been less than attractive to local teens.

While we may shudder at the thought of no adult supervision at the site and no pads, we need to at least consider this—if it works in Sunnyvale, why not in Los Gatos?

The idea is to construct a skate park in town that young people will use, and the council needs to do its homework—looking to other communities to see what makes a skate park work, and, more importantly, what doesn't work.

Two years ago, Saratoga leaders thought it was a portable facility that young people would use in their community. They purchased a set of modular, above-ground pieces that they would transport to different locations throughout the city. Trouble was, the teens never knew where the set-up was going to be, and they weren't interested enough in finding out. So Saratoga's $20,000 investment was just recently sold off for $500—to Campbell to add to that city's facility.

Los Gatos will spend thousands of dollars on this new skate park. Town leaders need to listen to the young people who will use it as they move ahead with the design plans. Last week's workshop, though, proves that's just what they plan to do.