“Where’s my water?” It’s at Smith Park!
The team officially got the water line installed on site just before taking off for Thanksgiving Break. We had to give our devoted readers a sneak peek of the most recent developments for the project, but now let’s back up a few weeks and talk about our fa-boo-lous Halloween!
October—It was groundbreaking!
Ground was officially broken at the park at the end of October. With help from Tyler from C & T Excavating and a few of his little toys, we completed the rough grading and first phase of excavation. The play mound is also beginning to take shape as the excavated dirt is building up. John, the team’s self-elected Bobcat operator, could not have been happier watching the pros at work in the big bulldozer.
The team went through a Freaky Friday experience at the Studio’s annual Halloween Reviews when they accidentally swapped bodies with the Dining House team, dressing as one another!
Never fear, though. Everyone has since recovered. Well, almost everyone: the team is still convinced that Trenton’s hair leans more platinum than blond since the switch.
Our third community meeting
With construction picking up pace, the team wanted to share the full design with the community. We held a meeting at the armory with community members, the parks and rec board, and the cities newly elected mayor in attendance.
Can money grow on trees?
The short answer is still no. However, the Smith Park team has good news: we were awarded not one, but two additional grants! These funds will go towards a new bathroom and trees for the park. A $5,000 grant was awarded by the R C & D Council to partially fund the parks new permanent bathroom. Alabama Power Foundation’s Good Roots Grant awarded the project $1,000. We are looking forward to starting work to plant trees and build a bathroom in the new year.
Speaking of trees
Two of the team’s tree huggers went on a shopping spree at the local nursery. They tagged some beautiful specimens, including these beautiful black gum and maple trees – can you spot the ones we tagged? In all, 120 trees were tagged between Plantation Tree Company, located in Selma, and Green Valley Trees, in Montevallo, AL.
What you need to install a basketball court?
No.1: Water
In the process of trenching the lines Meghan found a new favorite machine: the Ditch Witch trencher. With her trencher magic, we installed all four of the in-ground water boxes and tied them together with PEX crimp-ring piping. Now over half the park has running water, perfect for mixing concrete, cleaning dirty boots, or making rainbows.
No.2: Concrete
No.3: A crane?
Yes, you do need all these things to construct a court! Ok, the crane might be optional, but it sure did eliminate a lot of heavy lifting. To prepare for pouring the concrete footing for the backboard pole, the team designed and built bracing. This approach kept both poles aligned and plumb while the concrete was setting.
Happy Holidays everyone!
Our next step for the court will be to get the slab poured. It’s on our Christmas wish to get the work done before the holidays. Be sure to check out our next blog, where you’ll learn how many concrete trucks it takes to fill a basketball court!
Before you go… If anyone is feeling generous this holiday season, the Smith Park team would like to leave you with this—our Christmas List:
- A basketball (for Trenton and John)
- An extra sledgehammer (our most used tool)
- T-25 drill bits (for Amanda)
- Lastly, a pair of tented safety glasses (for Meghan because John “borrowed” hers)
