It felt like Christmas morning. The ribbon was cut. A cheer went up. Seconds later, dozens of skateboarders, in-line skaters, BMX bikers and scooters swarmed the concrete bowls, stairways and railings of Kelso Rotary Skate Park for the first time.

“Everybody’s so pumped. It’s gonna be awesome,” said Jonathan Wicklander, 22, of Kelso, pausing with his board on the lip of the bowl to talk to a reporter.

A crowd of city leaders, parents, construction workers, school district officials and Kelso Rotary members looked on in amazement Thursday as children, teens and 20-somethings performed daring stunts at steep angles and high speeds. Skateboards tipped nose-first off the ledge of the deepest bowl (which looks like an empty swimming pool), swooped up the other side, popped into the air and plunged back into the bowl. BMX bikes raced around the curves and jumped off ledges.

“It’s rad,” said Justin Robbins, 17, who got a pass to leave class early at Kelso High School so he could attend the dedication. “It’s pretty cool that it finally happened.”

“I’m stoked,” said Nate Cervantes, 16, of Kelso.

There were wipeouts, but no one seemed to get hurt. Skateboards clattered to the ground, but instead of falling heavily, most skaters would roll or keep their footing with a running leap.

“This is awesome. Even if I don’t skate, I’ll still come over and watch,” said Kelso resident Mark Parcel, 43, a former skateboarder who lobbied the city years ago for a skate ramp.

Construction on the 10,000-square-foot concrete skate park began in late August and finished last week at a cost of roughly $364,000. Kelso Rotary club, which “adopted” the little park at the corner of Minor Road and Burcham Street in North Kelso, first proposed the idea of building a skate park in 2001 and ponied up $45,000 for it. Butler Acres Elementary School children circulated a petition for a skate park, and in 2003, the city Parks Board approved the idea.

By 2008, the city had landed a $150,000 state grant, $10,000 from the Tony Hawk Foundation and several thousand dollars in private donations for the park. The City Council pledged to spend up to $163,000 in city funds to cover remaining costs, saying the expense was justified because the park would serve the city’s youth for 50 years. “It’s been a long haul,” Kelso Mayor David Futcher told the crowd gathered Thursday in 45-degree temperatures under threatening skies. “How many of you guys thought this day might never even get here?”

Futcher, who has been a staunch advocate of the park in his four years on City Council, recalled the neighborhood residents who didn’t want to deal with skaters and community members who didn’t want city money spent on the project.

“We were told skaters were just pot smokers. ‘Why build anything for them? They’re just going to trash it,’” Futcher said, shouting above the traffic rumbling by on Interstate 5.

Vandalism, drugs and drinking are problems for many demographics, “not just those who can balance better than me,” Futcher said.

He praised the skaters who’d helped out with night security and hand-excavation during construction, including Nick Nunez, Rodd Marks, Josh Dillenger, Jonathan Wicklander, Derek Bond, Abe Seidl and Aaron Gourutte.

“They made sure after we poured the concrete, nobody’s name was in it the next morning,” he said.

Before the ribbon-cutting, several skaters even used leaf-blowers borrowed from the city parks department to dry off the skate park’s concrete, wet from days of rain.

Futcher thanked Jeremy Hooper, owner of Plan Z skate shop downtown, for working to raise community match money for the grants and donations the city received.

“I’m pumped. I think it’s awesome,” Hooper said. “I hope the kids take care of it.”

Hannah Etter, 18, of Battle Ground, watched the action from the sidelines with her skateboard, waiting “until it calms down” before giving the new park a shot, she said.

“It’s a little aggressive right now,” said Etter, who’d helped blow-dry the park that morning.

Wearing a bike helmet, 4-year-old Tiernan Daly of Kelso rode his scooter fearlessly through the cluster of big kids. After zipping around the streetscape section, he rolled into the big bowl. The skaters waited patiently up top, grinning at the tiny boy attempting to ride up the steep sides before his father called him away.

“It’s great to have a place where they can expel their energy,” said former Kelso Councilman Alan Slater. “We’re going to have a ton of young people enjoy it.”