This project is part of the Lions Park work in Greensboro, Alabama. Two teams, one tasked with creating the Skatepark and the other the Concessions Stand, began their work by creating a master plan. After all, a park that serves many purposes should have thoughtfully integrated components, and construction on one project can contribute to other features. Such is the case with the Skatepark: Students began their work in 2008, and these teams constructed a social hub dubbed the “Great Lawn” (sized for 3 regulation volleyball courts), a second basketball court, and a combination pee-wee football/soccer field. The football/soccer field generated excess dirt from grading, and students used that material to create earth forms for the Skatepark, as well as to create two mounds to bound the Great Lawn, a space that is also anchored by an existing barbecue pavilion that the students renovated.
The Skatepark’s earth forms minimized the cost of concrete on the project, allowing a $25,000 grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation to cover the other costs. The team of three students developed the project as a series of concrete strips the size of a sidewalk. The width and configuration of these strips ensured that the team building the project could construct them. The strips begin at the front edge as a series of skate trails that connect the parking lot to the Skatepark, and terminate in the skate bowl.
