At least that's according to the American Institute of Architects Pennsylvania chapter, which gave local architect Anthony Bracali's design a Citation of Merit. It's the first time the AIA has given the nod to a skatepark.

But accolades aside, Bracali, of AB ARCH, wasn't always an expert on giving skaters what they want. For him, the word skateboarding once conjured up visions of brightly colored half pipes, the X-Games, and

pro Danny Way jumping the Great Wall of China.

"I thought it was stuff like this," he says as larger-than-life images fill a projection screen at a Design Philadelphia presentation on April 4. "But really, it's stuff like this," he says, pointing to a picture of a 12-inch-tall, 4-foot-wide wooden box.

The box—the single most skated element in one park he visited—served as inspiration for the yet-to-be-built park set for a two-acre triangle of land between the Art Museum and the Schuylkill.

"We tried to take all these pieces and compose them into an organization that was important for the site," Bracali tells 50 people gathered in a University of the Arts auditorium.

A man in the audience who cuts a conservative figure, compared to the shaggy haired, lanky 'boarders around him, asks if the "remote location" pales next to onetime street skate landmark LOVE Park. "The skateboarders, how do they feel about being pushed from Center City to the river?"

After a city planner explains that options for a park were limited, Josh Nims, executive director of the advocacy group Franklin's Paine Skatepark Fund, who was also sitting in the audience, speaks up.

He concedes that a more central location would have been ideal, but says, "When you want to get a house for $110,000 you start bidding at $70,000 and hope for the best." In other words, the Parkway location is a great compromise considering the scarcity and price of city land.

The Fairmount Park Commission donated the parcel, but construction is expected to cost $5 million, which is why Nims is courting big name sponsors like DGK, the Reebok-owned sportswear line of Philly-born pro Stevie Williams.

David Schaaf, senior urban designer with the city Planning Commission, says he hopes the AIA award will encourage "finer monetary contributions."

Nims agrees: "As much as this has been a slow process, it's been a big slow process."

And, he says, four years from concept to design isn't shabby.

Just ask Louise Turan, executive director of the Schuylkill River Development Corp. The Schuylkill River Trail project—finally almost complete -- took 30.