CHAPTER 4
DESIGN IDEAS

The next week, Avani, Krish, and Maddy met after school to firm up their skate park ideas. They had talked through what features would be best for the most people. Now, they were gathered at the Patel family breakfast table, trying to draw it all out. But there was a problem.

“My sketches are terrible!” said Krish.

“Mine too,” said Maddy.

“How can we present to the city council tomorrow? These sketches aren’t going to convince anyone!” said Avani.

Krish sighed. “I need a break. I’m hitting the driveway to work on some tricks.”

“Me too,” said Maddy. “Fresh air will help my brain. And hopefully my sketching skills!”

Avani stayed inside and kept working. When Maddy and Krish came back in thirty minutes later, she was smiling.

“Look at this!” said Avani, pointing to the large monitor hooked up to the family computer. “I found some blueprints for skate parks online! This one is really cool. And it’s about the size of the open lot. Maybe we can bring it to the city council?”

Maddy frowned. “But it only has street features. There isn’t even a bowl.”

“Well,” said Avani, “not many people really like to use the bowl anyway.”

“That’s not true,” said Maddy. “I used the bowl the other day and liked it. Plus, at Longmont, the bowl is always packed.”

Avani sits at the computer with skate park plans on the monitor. Krish sits next to her and Maddy stands behind, frowning as she points at the plans.

Krish nodded. “And it’s a feature scooter kids would use. We need to have one. The park should be useful for lots of different people.”

“But then what will we show to the city council?” Avani asked. “This blueprint doesn’t have a bowl, and our sketches are terrible.”

“How about we just make a top-ten features list and share that with the council?” suggested Krish. “It will be casual, but that’ll probably be okay.”

Maddy and Avani agreed it was the best choice. So, Avani typed up the list.

Features to Include in Oakdale’s Skate Park

  1. Bowl
  2. Spine (in bowl)
  3. Stair set (7 stair)
  4. Flat bar
  5. Euro gap
  6. Pyramid
  7. Hubba ledge
  8. Manny pad
  9. A-frame
  10. Sculpture of an oak leaf

Krish pointed to the last item. “What’s that?”

“Oh,” said Avani. “You know how some skate parks have sculptures in them? Not to skate on necessarily, but for decoration?”

Krish and Maddy nodded.

“I was thinking, since we live in Oakdale, a big oak leaf would be cool,” said Avani. “What do you guys think?”

Krish and Maddy both nodded again. “That would definitely be cool!” said Maddy. “And it seems like something the city council will like too.”

But Avani wondered, Will it be enough to convince them to build a skate park?