Brockport High School
student engineers design skatepark

Sixteen aspiring engineers at Brockport High School will design and build a 20,300 square foot skateboard park for the Town of Sweden with the help of their teacher Brett Handley and consultants from a variety of professions.

"We have basketball, baseball and softball fields, playgrounds, tennis courts, soccer fields and other places where kids can express their athletic talents, but nothing for those who choose the more individual sports like skateboarding, in-line skating, and BMX biking," said Handley.

The outdoor skatepark will be located in the new 150 acre Town Park located on Redman Road. SUNY Brockport sold the land to the town for $1. BISCO (Brockport Integrated Service Community Organizations) donated $40,000 to the town for the purchase of the equipment for the park. The park will cost an estimated $150,000. Corporate sponsorships and other funding sources are being examined.

Students completed the initial research phase of the project in mid-October. They are now beginning the design phase. Teams of four students will present monthly progress reports to the Sweden Town Board. Completion of the designs and working drawings is scheduled for the end of December. Off-site construction will take place through the middle of April with final assembly to be completed by June 16.

The Engineering Design and Development class at Brockport is part of an engineering program called Project Lead the Way. Most of the students plan to study engineering in college next fall.