By RHYS WALTERS

Do you know where your kid is? You might try the new skateboard park in Ballard. The temporary park is located on the northwest corner of NW 57th and 22nd Avenue NW, in the parking lot of a former Safeway store.

While skateboarding is typically associated with teen-agers, the Ballard Skateboard Park has been attracting enthusiasts of the sport from a wide range of ages, including pre-teens and adults in their 20s and 30s.

"It gets hundreds of users a day," said Chris Hildebrand, volunteer manager of the Ballard Skateboard Park.

Though there is no official supervision at the skateboard park, the Seattle Parks & Recreation Department has posted a list of rules that include no smoking, drugs or alcohol on the premises, as well as a ban on amplified music, and aluminum or glass containers.

Skateboarders are also prohibited from wearing headphones while boarding. Rollerblades are allowed on the course, but bikes and scooters are not.

For children under five, parental supervision is recommended. Helmets and safety pads are recommended for all ages. "Skate at your own risk," reads a sign at the entrance to the skateboard park.

The skateboard park is "free and open" to the public seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Construction on the street course, or the basic layout of the Ballard Skateboard Park, was completed last August. However, work on the park is not yet complete. The bowl, a large, deep concrete indentation skaters ride up and down in, is currently under construction and will be finished around mid-December.

All this is only temporary, however, as the skatepark will eventually have to pack up and make way for the Ballard civic center. Once the bowl is finished, said Hildebrand, "we'll start looking for a more permanent place."

The temporary skateboard park was mainly paid for with donations. The Seattle Department of Neighborhoods awarded two matching grants for $10,000 each, and the Parks Department donated $30,000. Private companies, including skateboard company Skatelite, donated $100,000 in materials and service.

More information on the Ballard Skateboard Park can be found on the Web site www.streetskaters.org. (