Sunday, June 4, 2017

The People's Putt-Putt -- Imagine The Possibilities

I am working on the designs for a free portable miniature golf course to be located in North Adams, MA.  In no particular order, here is a list of the ideas/themes for the holes that I've come up with thus far.  (All locations are North Adams unless otherwise specified.)  Your comments and additional suggestions are welcomed!!!

  • Windmills in and around the city, including the power generating type on the hillsides and the ones on the roof of Mass MOCA
  • Hoosac Tunnel
  • Street map of the city
  • Susan B. Anthony's birthplace in Adams
  • Fort Massachusetts
  • The Berkshire Street Railway that ran in the vicinity of Adams and North Adams
  • The hairpin turn on the Mohawk Trail
  • Drury High School
  • The marble dam and Natural Bridge State Park in Clarksburg
  • Union Depot
  • The Corner Market
  • The West End Market
  • Mt Greylock Veterans War Memorial Tower
  • The hospital
  • The Mohawk Theater
  • A blanket of snow
  • Urban renewal and its consequences, especially the L-shaped mall and K-Mart
  • The Appalachian Trail, Stony Ledge, the Thunderbolt Trail, the Hopper, Bascom Lodge, and other features on Mt Greylock
  • Arnold Print Works, Sprague Electric, Willow Dell, the Mass MOCA complex, and other former and current mill sites
  • Noel Field and the Steeplecats baseball team
  • Florida turnips, especially how the turnips pop up out of the ground due to frost heaves
  • Pedrin's Dairy Bar

The People's Putt-Putt -- An Introduction

About a year ago, I came up with the idea of designing a free, portable miniature golf course.  The course could be played indoors during the winter and moved out-of-doors during the summer.  It would be free for anyone to play it.  It would be based at the art studio and gallery located at 100 River Street, North Adams MA.

The designs for each of the holes are based on landmarks and/or history related to North Adams.  I used the notion of a February Fun-A-Day to kick-start the design process.  (The idea behind Fun-A-Day is to do some work on a creative project every day during the short month of February.)  I kept a notebook with me all month during February 2017, and worked pretty diligently on The People's Putt-Putt.  I'll include more details about the various holes in other posts, but below is an overview of what I have accomplished during the month.

  • I made a list of what I hoped to accomplish.
  • I reviewed a file of information and did research on the internet about miniature golf courses, art golf courses, and North Adams history to get ideas for the holes.
  • I came up with a list of possible materials to use in building the holes.
  • I made a list of possible North Adams locations to use as inspiration for the holes, and made sketches and/or notes providing additional information.
  • Using an indoor space of 500 square feet, I figured out how big I could make the holes and still fit nine of them inside that space.
Following the end of February, I've continued to work on the project.  I've made schematic drawings of five holes so far (as of early June 2017), and posted them on a Facebook page called "The People's Putt-Putt" -- check it out!  I plan to continue posting both here on the blog and on that Facebook page.