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First off, try and convince the city to
contact professionals from within the skatepark industry. There are many
existing businesses that specialize in skatepark design and
construction. Experienced teams of professional skatepark designers should
be the first avenues explored by any community considering that type of
facility. Almost all of these teams will have
skaters on their crews. That fact alone is the best insurance against a
park full of defective, unskateable elements that for all intents and
purposes are “set in stone”. Professional teams also tend to have the skate
experience required to determine what skater’s ideas will work together and
in what arrangement. While contracting with a professional designer may
cost the city more in the short term, these teams consistently build some of
the best skateparks around. Simply put, if your community has the financial
resources to hire a professional team to do the design and construction,
then they should. After all, cities consistently spend millions of dollars
on other sport facilities and they owe it to themselves to put the same
resources and attention to detail into the skatepark.
Hiring an experienced team of designers does not necessarily mean that the
project is simply turned over to them in anticipation of the result. You
will not only have some say as to what goes into the park, but also your
opinions will be respected. In all but rare instances members of a
reputable team of designers will meet with local youth to arrive at a
consensus of opinion prior to submitting a finalized design to the city for
approval. In the end, design contribution by local skaters is critical to
the overall success of a project. Look with skepticism upon any team
unwilling to talk to the potential users of the park as that may actually
result in a skatepark design that does not meet your needs. Even worse you
could be left with a very elaborate design that no one has any idea how to
build.
With most construction projects, you begin with a design. A draftsperson
then takes that design and incorporates the specifications provided other
professionals (such as structural engineers) into a set of construction
drawings. Most people refer to these drawings as blueprints. From those
construction drawings, contractors know exactly what they are expected to
build and precisely how that building is to take place. Likewise, the city
will use the specifications within the construction drawings as guidelines
for their periodic inspections. Typically, alterations cannot be made to
the parameters dictated within the construction drawings without the review
and written approval of the city. When it comes to buildings and parking
garages, this is a good thing. But, with skateparks, things are a bit
different and professional designers should be given some latitude with
regard to modifications. What appeared correct on the blueprint, even to a
seasoned professional may need a little tweaking in the field. However,
only professional designers will be capable of making those on-the-spot
determinations.
There are a couple of design/build teams that insist upon the freedom to
make any modifications they desire while the park is under
construction. These skateparks undergo a dynamic, almost organic process
while the park is being built. This design approach works because these
teams have a high level of experience both as skaters and as park builders
and demonstrate a meticulous attention to detail. The result is some of the
best skateparks in the world. However, there are currently very few cities
that are willing to turn a team lose without knowing what they will get in
the end. Because of that, these teams tend to get work sporadically and
only within a small geographic area where their previous works can be
directly observed.
Written by Anthony Gembeck |
