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Five years ago, Randy Hadzor got tired of looking at a pile of dirt. The pile was left over after landscapers did work at the Lipe Art Park in Syracuse’s Westside neighborhood, and a large pile of unused material was left right next to it. When the community began to speculate on what was going to be built in its place, one of the most well-received answers was a pump track.

“A bunch of people were like, ‘Oh, man, (a pump track would) be so cool,’” Hadzor recalled. “And then, basically, a group of folks who have the insight into how community projects happened kind of got together and just tried to make it happen.”

What came next is a community-driven project to create a pump track on the empty lot on West Fayette Street called PumpTrackSYR. A pump track is a series of hills and turns used by bikers, skateboarders and “other smaller-wheeled friends,” as Hadzor put it, to move along without needing to pedal or push in the process. He hopes that the track can be used as a melting pot for sport and art, since he and a few other volunteers at the site are part of the art scene in Syracuse.

While the concept of a pump track is straightforward, the process to begin building the pump track was anything but. Hadzor and other volunteers had to wait a few years before actual construction could begin.

“It was a long process, because just getting permission to use the land (and) working through stuff with the city to make sure we’re following all the rules,” Hadzor said. “And also considering the maintenance and stormwater considerations, and having all of those meetings and stuff just took a long time.”

Volunteers helped to build the pump track on Sunday — the second build day of the project — and they managed to complete the first loop. From 9 a.m. to almost 5 p.m., the volunteers shoveled and packed-on dirt into a smooth, rideable surface.

Hadzor estimated that 100 volunteers helped PumpTrackSYR make progress on its goal of creating the only pump track in the city of Syracuse. This project requires a mix of volunteers and specially hired workers to make it come to fruition.

“Since we’ve started, people come and go,” Hadzor said. “A lot of really important stuff is just the specialists’ work. Like the engineers and people who like to lend their brain to how it comes together and then where we are today, people lending their equipment and their skill set and their time is of an immense value.”

The second phase of the track’s construction will lay asphalt on the site and is scheduled to start in 2022.
Anthony Bailey | Staff Writer

One of the volunteers working on the project is Bryan English, who built his own pump track in his backyard about a year ago in preparation for construction at Lipe Art Park. The work he did at his house helped him figure out kinks before working on the bigger project, he said.

One community member, Jeff Jones, was with his son having a day out when they saw construction being done near Lipe Art Park. The two stopped by to see what was being built. Jones felt excited that the project was something different and could bring kids outside.

“Thank God they’re not building tennis courts,” Jones said.

The pump track also gives nearby businesses something to get excited about, including Flower Skate Shop, which is located on the corner of South Salina and East Fayette streets. John Moore, a co-owner of Flower, hopes that the pump track’s construction will help bring more people to the local businesses in downtown Syracuse.

“You know, building this will bring in a lot of people, especially kids,” Moore said. “At the least, I’ll be there to skate and use (the pump track).”

Construction on the pump track will resume in the spring to complete the first phase of construction. The second phase, which is placing asphalt over the dirt so skateboards and scooters can be used on the track, will also begin in 2022.

While there is still a way to go in construction, Hadzor sees the future of the site as one that mixes art and sport in a distinctive way.

“I think that this kind of bike riding and eventually skateboarding, when it’s happening, is a really flowing, creative … art expression,” Hadzor said. “There’s lots of art studios and creators (nearby), and there is a sculpture park right there. It’s just in the community, and it’s just got kids that want to play. So it’s just the perfect mesh of all that.”

Published on November 8, 2021 at 11:29 pm