CANNON BEACH – Three years of perseverance have made a new skate park in Cannon Beach a reality.

The Oregon Parks and Recreation District heard presentations June 11 to dole out $4.5 million for park projects around the state.

Cannon Beach’s presentation was successful. It earned a second-place finish among 40 groups from all over Oregon. The 20-minute presentation included speakers Cannon Beach city manager, Rich Mays, Margo Lalich, Lujac Desautel, and Cole Willyard, all of whom addressed the need for a new skate park in Cannon Beach. Desautel and Willyard are both 15 years old.

The second-place finish by Cannon Beach earned the group $120,000 in grant money for a new skate park. That funding was added to the $60,000 raised by Desautel, Willyard and the skate park committee; $40,000 from the city of Cannon Beach; and $10,000 from Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District.

“About halfway through, I just prayed to God it would be finished while I was still in high school,” said Desautel. “I’m a sophomore now and it’s happening. It’s like a dream come true.”

Stefan Hauser, of Placed to Ride, has designed the new skate park and will help steer its construction. Mays said the city is hoping to break ground some time in October and have the park finished next spring.

The current park will be pulled up to make way for the new one, despite the possible significance of the site.

“We think it might be the oldest and smallest park in the state,” said Mays. The park was built in 1988 and is a mere 3,900 square feet. After the remodel, the park will span 5,800 square feet and run parallel to the right field line of the playfield next to the park without encroaching on it.

The money for the expansion of the park began with the committee of kids and parents who felt Cannon Beach needed a new and more challenging facility to skate in.

“The park here is limited in what you can do,” said Desautel. “I wanted to get better and better.”

That desire to improve led to the formation of a committee that took its case to the Cannon Beach City Council. The council began a partnership with the committee by way of challenging the committee to raise a minimum of $40,000 to contribute to the project. The committee returned with $60,000 and were rewarded for their efforts with a $40,000 contribution by the city.

“We started off raising money in simple ways,” said Desautel. “We put out money jars in stores and restaurants and let people decide how much they wanted to donate or to collect loose change. We were getting quite a bit from that every week.”

Along with the money jars, the committee sold DVDs featuring skaters from the Northwest and held auctions to help generate funds.

“We also have some private donors who have been really generous,” said Desautel.