LeClaire city leaders cut the ribbon today at a skate BMX park. A place for area kids to get their adrenaline rush.
And the kids themselves got this idea rolling.
They did and skaters and bicyclists of all ages have been making full use of the dry weather to hit the ramps.
After the grand opening was delayed by a week because of rain.
Planning began last year and the idea came from a determined young adult.
LeClaire's public streets can breath a sigh of relief.
Now that the grinding and jumping has a designated place to go.
BMX enthusiast Jeff Oetzel says, "It's pretty much your own thing, you just do, what you do, you be your own person, it shows in your riding it shows in everything."
Nick Goetsch turned that idea into reality.
"It's pretty sweet what he did, he brought it from nothing, to something," says Oetzel.
Because Goetsch was tired of being told to go away
"There was a lot of kids riding around the streets including myself, we were always getting yelled at, kicked out of spots, there was need for a place to go without getting kicked out," says Goetsch.
And the skate park just seemed natural.
"We always just rode bikes around town as kids built jumps and jumped em, this is how it's always been."
It took a little work. Goetsch had to convince the city to approve the idea and pay for the 115-thousand dollar project.
"You got to get people to take an account that it's worth doing, and is something that's good not just a bunch of trouble."
"Well, skating is just my thing," says scooter trickster Noah Millhouse.
He wants to be a professional rider.
"It's kind of a way that I can express how I can do tricks," says Millhouse.
And while some seem to practice physics, the crowd makes the bruises worth it.
"It means a lot that there's a lot of people that really enjoy it, and it's great," says Goetsch.
The push for the skate park began more than a decade ago but the teens really kicked it into high gear last year.
The 115 thousand dollars project paid for by donations, bonds, and interest earnings.
