MOSES LAKE — The terrain has gotten a little more interesting for skateboarders in Grant County with the formal opening of a concrete bowl at the Moses Lake Skate Park.

“This was a labor of love,” said Steven Ausere, past president of the Rotary Club of Moses Lake. “When I was a kid, I loved it. Skateboarding is what I found meaning in.”

Skateboarding taught him patience and perseverance and gave him a community to belong to, Ausere said.

So when he became president of the Rotary Club several years ago, Ausere decided to raise some money — more than $160,000, to be exact — to replace some of the metal ramps at the skatepark at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Dogwood Street near both Frontier Middle School and the city’s Surf ‘n Slide Water Park with concrete ramps, an open bowl and additional lighting so skaters can have a better place to skate.

“We spent the last three years raising money, getting plans developed, to make this park happen,” he said.

Ausere, along with Moses Lake Mayor Dean Hankins; Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Director Susan Schwiesow; current Rotary President Terry Leas; Moses Lake City Council Member David Eck and other city officials and Rotary Club members, gathered at the park on Wednesday to cut the ribbon and formally dedicate the park improvements.

Because all kids, and not just those who play team sports, need a safe place to ride.

“It’s a whole lot of fun for these kids. And you can see them down here in the dead of winter. Nobody’s playing basketball, nobody’s playing tennis. But this skate park will be utilized all year,” Ausere said.

Both the fundraising and the installation of the concrete improvements and the new LED lighting were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Ausere said.

He also hopes the new concrete — which sits on a portion of the skate park once covered by grass — will be the first phase of upgrades to the skate park. Ausere hopes the city will now commit to replacing much of the older steel ramps and quarter pipes with proper concrete structures.

Moses Lake City Manager Allison Williams said the city’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department has already put in a funding request for the next round of improvements.

“So this will be on the list and we’ll have to look at it during our budget process,” Williams said.

Even before the crowd cleared out, a few skaters showed up. Marciella Wade, 24, came with a pair of big wooden boards to celebrate her daughter Ofelia’s third birthday.

“We just came to check it out. She’s been wanting to skate,” Wade said, adding that at 24 with a small child, she doesn’t skate anywhere near as much as she'd like or used to.

Still, she likes the changes to the skate park.

“It’s really nice, and it’s really smooth,” Wade said.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at [email protected].