STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS
Until today I did not know what a pump track was however some of my photographs from this series show such a feature. A pump track is a circuit of rollers,[a] banked turns and features designed to be ridden completely by riders “pumping”—generating momentum by up and down body movements, instead of pedaling or pushing. It was originally designed for the mountain bike and BMX scene, and now, due to concrete constructions, is also used by skateboard, and accessible to wheelchairs. Pump tracks are relatively simple to use and cheap to construct, and cater to a wide variety of rider skill levels.
Skateparks experienced a huge boom in the late 1990s and early 2000s. However, most of them were designed to be used by experienced or professional riders, and thus resulted in many injuries. Many communities looked for a better, more accessible solution. The first new era pump track in the United States was built in 2004 at The Fix Bike Shop in Boulder, Colorado, by professional downhill bicyclist Steve Wentz.
Most pump tracks link a series of rollers to steeply bermed corners that bring the riders back around.[2] They used to be built mostly out of dirt; recently companies have started to use concrete or asphalt. Paved pump tracks also have the advantage that they can be ridden by skateboarders, in-line skaters, and foot-powered scooters.
Blackrock Park has several layers of history that can be clearly read in the landscape. The park is a fine example of Victorian landscape design with features including, and not limited to, the bandstand, lake and pavilion. The Martello Tower is one of the most prominent and oldest built features in the park.
The narrow linear layout of the park provides limited opportunities for field sports. The current masterplan seeks exploit this and incorporate alternative sport facilities within the park to promote more diverse active recreation within the county. The masterplan proposes a skate park, pump track, outdoor gym and bouldering within the park interlaced with meadow and tree planting. The tree planting will provide additional shelter from coastal winds and improve the parks climate change resilience.
It is proposed to remove the existing playground adjacent to the bandstand and the defunct Italian Garden within the park and replace them with new natural play elements to promote free play and imagination. The feasibility of incorporating existing structures as play elements within the park, such as historic follies will be explored in the detailed design process.
A permanent staff facility beside the car showroom in the active area will provide additional supervision and foster a sense of safety as there will be more staff in the vicinity.
