Now there are none, but soon their could be as many as nine places to practice the intricate aerobatic skills of skateboarding in West Seattle.

The city has called a hearing for tomorrow night (Thursday, Oct. 5) at 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Delridge Community Center. Two other hearings were this week, too, in other parts of the city. Three years ago, a group of teens appeared before a city council candidate's forum at Chief Sealth High School and quietly pleaded for some facilities in our community where they could safely do the jumps, twists and flight maneuvers of their sport. There was once a bootleg facility built by enthusiasts in Schmitz Park but when the cops found the place, tickets were given and the bowl of steel rebar and concrete was consigned to junk.

It takes city bureaucracies a long time, but often they come up with some answers. True to Seattle's slow, grinding process, there are now a series of hearings scheduled to contemplate 30 sites, citywide, and nine in West Seattle.

The facilities, just a planner's dream now, are from what are known in bureaucratese as "skatedots" which are described as "small skateable elements along paths as part of streetscapes or in parks," to full scale regional skate facilities "similar in size to Little League or football field, more than 30,000 square feet."

In between is a "skatespot, similar in size to a tennis court and a "district" facility the size of two tennis courts.

In West Seattle, one "skatedot" is on the Seattle Parks and Recreation list, at Alki Beach. Four "skatespots" are on the proposal, at Hiawatha Playfield, Delridge Playfield, Fairmount Playfield, and at the Denny Middle School Athletic Complex. Three full-scale "district" facilities are possible in West Seattle, including one at West Seattle Stadium, the Myrtle Reservoir-High Point Playfield, and Westcrest Park.

The entire city has only two skateparks now, one new one in Ballard and Seattle Center, which will be torn down because it is on private property on which the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be built.

It can cost upwards of $35 a square foot to build a skatepark and there is reportedly money available to construct some of the facilities.

The public hearings will lead to more process, of course. A city council appointed Skateboard Advisory Task Force created the draft list of sites to be discussed at the hearings this week. Then the task force will "consider the community input from the public meetings, input from the owners of the properties, and how to distribute potential facilities in a geographically equitable way, and will narrow the list based on their consideration of those factors." In other words, consider the testimony and finalize its recommendations for a presentation to the City Council Parks, Education, Libraries, and Labor Committee in December. The city Park Board will have a hearing on the recommendations on Dec. 14.

It won't be until "early 2007" before the parks superintendent makes a recommendation of which skateboard facilities should be built, and then the City Council "may adopt the plan by resolution."

Jack Mayne may be reached at 932.0300 or jmayne@robinsonnews.com