BY DAWN BAUMGARTNER VAUGHAN

dvaughan@heraldsun.com; 419-6563

DURHAM -- Skaters came from all directions to check out the new Durham Skate Park, which opened Saturday afternoon downtown. An hour before the ribbon cutting ceremony, skateboard wheels rumbled down sidewalks, bound for Central Park. Just up the hill from the Durham Farmers' Market, an oasis of concrete awaits urban skaters.

The skate park has a bowl -- basically, an empty pool -- lots of ramps and rails, a quarter pipe, steps and a street clam, which looks like a crash landed satellite dish. Hundreds of skaters lined the plaza to watch professional skateboarders from Toy Machine and DC Skateboarding give a demo after the ceremonial opening by Mayor Bill Bell and officials from Central Park and city parks and recreation.

Aspen Kincaid, 16, of Raleigh, a street skater, watched as the first amateur skaters took off down the ramp. "It's really nice. It's going to be really good for Durham," he said. "It's better than Raleigh -- more street skating. They used their money better here."

Raleigh's skate park is twice as large, said skater Jay Smith, 46, but Durham replicates the city street skating landscape. He has been skating since his childhood in Southern California, and has passed the interest down to his kids Andre, 12, and Corinna, 14.

Smith said that he enjoys vertical skating because of the roller coaster feeling of going up and down. The speed, the ride is amazing, he said. "It's not a team sport. You don't have to wait on anybody," he said.

Except maybe for Saturday, when the park crowd was dense with little boys in helmets, teenagers with shaggy haircuts, adult long time skaters, and even a few girl skaters, too. The skaters were cordial to each other as they took turns trying out the obstacles. There were only a few near misses and minor collisions.

City officials urged the use of safety equipment and said police would issue warnings the first month, then citations for those who don't wear safety gear like pads and helmets. Sioux Watson of Durham Central Park said she hopes the skaters take ownership of their city park and clean up and recycle. The city used input from local skaters including Nick Spaulding of Ujamaa Boardhouse in the design of the $350,000 park. Spaulding moved his store close to the new park in anticipation of the opening.

Durham skater Paris Williams, 18, said the park is amazing and the bowl is crazy. He likes the smooth concrete and the handrails.

"It's a good park -- the best Durham could come with, skating-wise, except the legendary courthouse," Williams said. He said most Durham skaters downtown had been skating at the courthouse, fire station and the farmers' market.

Alfonzo Harrington, 16, and Will Dickerson, 17, both came down from Person County to check out the new park. There is no skate park in Person County, they said -- they usually skate in an alley there.

"I think it's pretty cool," Harrington said of the Durham Skate Park. "We're going to be here a lot." He has been skating for a year, Dickerson for four years. The Durham park is a 20-minute drive from Person County. They haven't been to the Raleigh or Chapel Hill skate parks, they said, because those are too far away.

Will said he'd come back on a day that's not so crowded. He skates because "you don't have to have a whole team to skateboard. If you're bored, you just go out yourself."

The skate park, at 702 Foster St., is open daily from dawn to dusk.