OAKLAND — Montclair Park opened its first official skate park Sunday to the excitement of the local skating community with the unveiling of a community-built mini half-pipe.

Although the park did have a makeshift skate ramp set up in 2010, the wooden ramp was never meant to be permanent, and was retired in 2014. Since then, local community members and skaters have been working with the city’s Public Works and Parks and Recreation departments to create a new, more permanent structure.

“We’ve been thinking about this half-pipe for over a year now,” said Marie Brady, who spearheaded the project. “When the old half-pipe was taken down, it left no other alternative than for skaters to go on the streets.”

Brady added that with flat space at such a premium in Montclair, she was excited that the new half-pipe would be built to last.

Brady and a number of local skaters began fundraising for the new ramp last year and were able to raise nearly $25,000 to build and pay fees for the space in Montclair Park.

“I loved getting to help young people bring this together for the neighborhood,” Vice Mayor Annie Campbell Washington said. “I’m so happy to see all these young people out here today.”

Also helping to design the new pipe was Keith “K Dub” Williams, a local artist and community activist. Williams was in charge of the ramp’s construction and has also designed the Townpark Skate Park at DeFremery Park near West Oakland.

“Look at you guys. You guys showed up, advocated, you made this happen,” he said of the group of young skaters who helped build the new ramp.

“I think the lack of flat space for skaters drives them onto the streets and sidewalks, but this fosters a sense of community and athleticism,” Brady said.

She said the experience of building a skate park was also good for the younger skaters who helped advocate for it.

“They got to sit in on City Council meetings and look at budgets, and they were so terrific at speaking up and saying what they truly needed,” she said.

Brady’s son, Nolan, 15, was one of the many who helped to bring the proposal before the city Parks and Recreation Department. He and his friend Heath Glosli, 14, stood to the side after the ribbon cutting and watched as skaters young and old flew over and around the new ramp.

“It takes a lot more time than I thought, and a lot more money than I thought,” Nolan said. “We don’t have anything like this around here. This keeps people safer because we’re not skating on sidewalks anymore, It’s good for the whole community.”

Nolan said that this was hopefully not the end of their work on the skate park. He says he and his friends would like to add more structures such as an A-frame ramp and a rail in the future.

“You’ve got to get a lot of things together to do this, but it was worth it overall,” he said.