SPASH student plans Stevens Point Skate Park


By AUSTIN STANKOWSKI

The Mirror reporter

Seven years ago the Stevens Point community welcomed a new member to its parks, the Stevens Point Skateboard Park. The area will now get an upgrade in the form of an extension that will allow skateboarders to ride on some unique terrain.

SPASH student Reid Larson created a computer rendering of the new skatepark. “John Pearson (the skatepark coordinator) approached me with plans for a new skatepark add-on,” Larson said. “He wanted me to create a 3D rendering that would show exactly how everything would move and flow together.”

Not many high school students would have been up to the task of rendering a 4,000 square foot structure. Larson said, “I wanted the challenge of making the rendering because I love to do CAD drawings. My end goal though was to help out the community because it does a lot for me.”

The park will feature “natural terrain” which includes features found in urban places such as schools, banks, and other places skaters are not normally able to skate. The terrain will include ledges, embankments, handicap ramps and rails.

Larson said, “The new park will attract a lot more people because as of right now there are nearly no flatland features, the add-on will focus on flatland features.”

The expansion will also feature a wall on the back that will have a mural painted by local artist and skateboarder Alexander Landerman who created the mural on Divepoint Scuba building in downtown Stevens Point. The metal fabricating for the features will be done by local skateboarder and metal worker Dustin Gwidt.

The park will also feature a “3D sculpture” in the middle that will present a rideable challenge to skateboarders. Larson said, “The sculpture is cool, but my favorite feature will be the A-frame which sort of looks like a triangle that skateboarders can ride on.”

The Stevens Point Park Commission Board gave their go-ahead for fundraising for a new $29,700 extension to the current skatepark located in Bukolt Park.

The original park was designed by a renowned Canadian company and constructed by Miron Construction from the Fox Valley. The extension was estimated to cost around $168,000 but because the city will use local professional builders, the cost will be cut down to a more manageable price while also keeping money within the community.

After graduating from SPASH Larson is planning on going to school for a degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering.