They took the campaign to the City Hall. Now they are hitting the road.

The teens behind the bid for a skate plaza in Hendersonville are hopping in a van Tuesday and heading north 420 miles to Kettering, Ohio.

The city made national headlines last year when it opened the first skate plaza in the United States.

And the teens behind the Hendersonville Kids Alliance to Skate are looking for pointers.

So they are sending three delegates -- Justin Hayes, 14, Zac Cawthorn, 15, and Chris Merker, 16, to explore the effect the skate plaza carried for the suburb of Dayton, Ohio. They might even get in a bit of skating, too.

Armed with a camcorder, the teens plan to record interviews with teens who skate the Kettering plaza, plus city administrators.

"We hope to talk to the Parks and Recreation director and just get to try the skate plaza out for ourselves," Hayes said. "We will see how it is, interview some kids and see how they like it, and talk to them about the benefits of the plaza."

But they do not plan to focus strictly on the positive. The teens also want to know about any downsides. They want to know how many people, and what type, visit the skate plaza. The teens also plan to get down to nuts and bolts, exploring features of the park and construction issues.

The trip comes nearly a month after the Kids Alliance to Skate made the pitch for a skate plaza to the Hendersonville City Council.

The presentation impressed city leaders -- the teens cited liability laws, money sources, health studies, state laws.

The teens also gained support from merchants, who have complained about skaters on Main Street and sidewalks downtown. City law bans skating on public property, and teens say they have no place to go.

But city leaders made no commitment toward the project.

So when the teens return from Kettering, they plan to update the City Council with their findings.

But the campaign does not stop there. The teens are slated to appear on the Larry Freeman show on Hendersonville radio station WHKP from 9 to 10 a.m. June 15.

And they are looking for other teens to help spread the word.

The Kids Alliance to Skate plans to hold a membership drive from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 3, at the Blue Ridge Mall on Four Seasons Boulevard.

A skate plaza differs from the common skate park because it is geared toward street skaters.

Street skaters prefer rails, benches and stairs to the pool-shaped bowls found in traditional skate parks.

Kettering is larger than Hendersonville. The Census Bureau estimated the Ohio city's population at 55,000 in 2004. Hendersonville's population reached about 11,000.

For more information about the teens' campaign, visit www.skatehendersonville.com.