The town of Los Gatos and Indigo Architects held the workshop July 20 in the Miles Avenue parking lot that could be the future home of the long-talked-about park.

The town council voted unanimously June 21 to fund a preliminary study and hold design workshops at the 22,000-square-foot lot next to Balzer Field.

Before letting them use clay, sand, paper and pencils, and chalk to draft proposed features, architect Bruce Playle addressed the all-male, mostly 13- to 17-year-old crowd to let them know what to expect.

"It's very important—in order for you to have a skate park—for you to understand what it's going to be," Playle told the group as parents, town staff and commissioners, and Mayor Steve Glickman looked on.

The young skateboarders voiced many questions and comments about Playle's presentation. His explanation that the park may require some kind of supervision, at least for the first year, was greeted with a resounding "No!" Other points of conflict included what materials would be used and whether safety gear would be required.

"Are we going to have to wear pads?" asked one boy in attendance.

The architect explained that that was a decision that was ultimately up to the town council, which had expressed a desire to have such a requirement.

"Only losers wear pads," joked Frank Wong, 17, of Saratoga.

But as Playle said, those are policy decisions to be brought up at future council discussions of the park—the next of which will be Aug. 16. This afternoon was about designs, which the skateboarders appeared excited to work on.

Some sculpted bowls, ramps and rails. Others drew designs on the pavement with chalk. A few fashioned features out of a pile of wet sand. Someone drew chalk "stairs" on the ground, which some of the boys began jumping over.

"I think if they do it right, it'd be a good place to skate," Frank said after sketching some designs on paper. "If it's a good skate park, I'd probably come here every day during the summer."

Frank drew his vision for several features, including a pyramid-shaped ramp with a platform at the top and "soft transitions" (not-very-steep sides). One of his drawings, a sort of re-creation of a stairwell with a rail in the middle, was mirrored almost exactly by another young designer working with clay.

"A lot [of features] are really standard," Indigo architect Michael Gervais said of the output of such workshops. "There are a lot of common things and a lot of more custom things."

For the most part, Gervais said, the skateboarders understand what is realistic and what isn't. Playle said that after the council hearing, there will be another workshop to further hone the design.

One overwhelming desire among the teens was for the park to be built out of concrete, like the Sunnyvale park many often visit. They don't want it to use modular, aboveground ramps, such as those at Campbell's park. They said the concrete is more fun to skate, is quieter and hurts less to hit.

Parents in attendance said they hope the town listens to their children's concerns before spending thousands of dollars on the park. Esther Holst, who brought two sons who skate to the workshop, said she has done research on other skate parks in the area. She said the town shouldn't be too cautious in making decisions about the park, or the youth of Los Gatos will be deterred from using it.

"There have been enough other communities that have done this," she said. "It may be a first for Los Gatos, but we're not breaking any new ground here."

Assistant Town Manager Pamela Jacobs said town staff was pleased with the workshop and that she would look forward to seeing the designs Indigo presents to the council in August.

"We felt really good about turnout," she said. "We felt even better about the actual workshop itself. We thought the kids were very engaged and gave the consultants some good input."