County officials spent all this money -- $1.35 million -- to build a new skate park in South Park, complete with grind boxes, bank ramps, ledges and a "snake run" with a 4-foot- and a 5-foot-deep bowl. There's even a 12-foot-high vertical ramp.

Did they really think that a chain-link fence would be enough to keep the skaters out?

With all apologies to Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and the dignitaries attending today's 1 p.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony, skateboarder Doug Plezia and his friends simply couldn't wait to christen the South Park Action Park.

"This looks really good," Mr. Plezia, a 24-year-old carpenter from Mt. Lebanon, said as he peered through the fence.

He wasn't on the outside of the fence very long.

County officials have been planning the 18,000-square-foot skate park for a couple of years. Labeled a "3B" facility -- for boards, blades and bikes -- it has deep, twisting concrete bowls with all sorts of curves and humps, and hard, flat edges that skaters can pound away at.

His friend, Mike Drennen, 24, was the second man over the fence.

"I like the bowl and the easy transition," said Mr. Drennen, a Bridgeville native who moved to North Carolina three months ago, but is home for the holidays. "You could cruise around in there for hours without losing speed. It's a snake run.

"Everything's set up, made for both stances, both footings. Regular and goofy, if you know what I'm talking about. It's the way you stand on the board."

Mr. Drennen also praised the two bowls, which seem to serve as a beginner's side and a larger, deeper bowl for more experienced skaters.

"Compared to the other parks around -- and I've been to all of them -- this is the nicest so far," he said. "I love it. It's really smooth. I like the design and the flow."

Mr. Plezia said the new park, which was designed with input from skaters, is better than the ones he's frequented in Imperial and Plum.

"It seems like by this third one, they really came into their own with the design. It's a lot tighter," he said.

"It's like they got skating right."

The park, which will not have an admission fee, also has shaded aluminum bleachers for spectators.

The skaters had only minor complaints. There were a lot of pebbles that needed to be swept up. And there aren't any lights, which means skating will shut down at sundown.

And there's that darned ribbon-cutting ceremony this afternoon, which means the rules regarding helmets and knee pads probably will be enforced -- at least for today.

But, otherwise, they said, they couldn't wait for the gates to be unlocked and the park opened to all comers. And they aren't worried about crowd control.

"Everybody who comes here is going to be friendly with each other because we've all got this in common," Mr. Plezia said. "There are unspoken rules. You learn the skate park etiquette.

"People who have been around skate parks know that you show respect, take turns. There might be a kid who cuts in line, but we take him aside and tell him, 'Hey, wait for your turn. We're gonna all get to go.' People call you snake. And you don't want to be a snake at the skate park."

The point, Mr. Plezia said, is that for most skaters, skateboarding really isn't competitive.

"It's more about creativity and self-expression," he said. "Whatever you can come up with, whatever your ideas are. Some people would skate this place totally different than how I would skate it."

And why skate?

"It's not about an adrenaline rush," Mr. Plezia said. "It's about how hard it is to learn a trick. Something about trying something for hours and finally getting it. The feeling when you land. I don't know how to explain it. It's a really good feeling.

"There's nothing else that gives it to you. You can't get that feeling by catching a baseball. Maybe if you made that really great catch at the end of the game. That's once. But skating, you get that feeling every time. It's why you keep coming back. And it feels like brand-new every time. You can't wait until the next day."

One of the unique things of the South Park Action Park is the vert ramp, the 12-foot vertical half-pipe familiar to those who watch the X Games on ESPN.

Mr. Plezia and his fellow scofflaw skaters eyed it, but didn't dare try it.

"It's hard to do," Mr. Plezia said. "This is the first one around here. I would love to fly in the air like they do, but I've never learned it.

"Maybe I'll learn it now. I'll get some kneepads and a helmet. All I'll have to get is the [guts]."