The West Michigan Dream Center has partnered with Greenville Community Church to open a mobile skate park. The project has been in the works for two years.

"We are just very excited about this because this offers an opportunity to the youth in the area that enjoy skateboarding or Roller Blading to have a place to go," said Karen Dillon, co-founder of the West Michigan Dream Center. "Not only a place to go but a place where they are accepted and developing their skills in the sport."

Dillon said the organization wanted to build a skate park because youth didn't have a good place to skate in the city. She said they decided to get a mobile skate park when they discovered that a permanent one would cost $80,000.

Dillon said that it took nearly two years to raise $4,300 to purchase the equipment. That paid for a quarter-pipe, ramps and rails. The donations came from many individuals and businesses, including a $1,500 gift from Meijer and a $1,000 gift from Aggressive Tooling, both in Greenville.

"The goal would be to provide a safe place for the kids to skate and have fun," said Tony Dillon, Karen Dillon's husband and Dream Center co-founder. "Sometimes skateboard kids have a bad reputation. We just want to provide a safe place for them to go that there won't be any trouble involved."

Karen Dillon said they decided to partner with Greenville Community Church when it offered to pay for the insurance to have the skate park on its property.

"They are like, we don't have a location," said Paul Spittka, pastor of children's and student ministries at Greenville Community Church. "There were several churches it was offered to but they didn't want it. It did raise our insurance but it was definitely worth it. We think that this could be the beginning of a permanent skate park here at the church."

The skate park was open in the church's parking lot at 6596 Vining Road for the first time Wednesday evening. Several people came to check it out.

Zach Riker, 15, of Greenville, said he's been skateboarding for four years and helped Spittka choose which ramps to order.

"It gives us a place to skate because we haven't anywhere else to skate," he said.

Brad Christensen, 13, of Greenville, said he's going to be there every time it's open.

"It's the only place we are actually able to skate without getting yelled at to get out off the street and other places," he said.

The cost to skate is $10 per year, which includes snacks and sport drinks. All skaters are required to wear helmets, knee pads and wrist guards, which are available for rent for $2 per session. Each participant also is required to have a release form signed by a parent. The form is available on the church's Web site at www.gcclink.com.

The skate park will be open from noon to 8 p.m. Friday and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. A grand opening celebration is planned for June 20-21 with times to be announced.

Spittka said his goal is to have the skate park open in the morning and afternoon on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during the summer.

"This is just a great opportunity," Dillon said. "Some kids that don't seem to fit anywhere else just know they are accepted and cared for and know they have a place they can go that's safe."