Syracuse, N.Y. — Basketball courts are a fixture in municipal parks, but the city of Syracuse now has one that’s anything but common.

Construction has finished on a $281,500 project that installed a three-hoop, hexagonal basketball court at Huntington Park, a small city park in Eastwood just north of Burnet Avenue.

Hoops with clear backboards are set up along three of the six sides of the hexagonal court, which has enough space for three-point shot lines for each basket. Rims can be set at different heights to allow people of all ages and skill levels to take and make shots.

“It’s a very innovative idea,” said Tony Williams, the city’s parks and recreation commissioner, who started in August. “I thought it was a novel idea when I came into the department.”

The court project was developed after a community engagement process in fall 2021 that included onsite park meet and greets, stakeholder meetings, community meetings and an online survey. The desire for a basketball court emerged from that effort, but city parks planners wanted to come up with something creative.

Josh Wilcox, a city parks planner, said he began researching unique basketball court designs with the idea of avoiding the traditional rectangular design with hoops at each end. Wilcox said older teenagers and adults often take over those courts in public parks, so they looked for something that could preserve access for younger kids.

Wilcox researched and found circular court designs in Australia and New Zealand and thought that could be a good starting point. Syracuse-based Appel Osborne Landscape Architecture came up with the idea of refining that concept into the hexagon shape.

The design also brings an emphasis on three-point shooting, which has evolved into a skill that younger players are eager to practice.

“Everybody wants to be Steph Curry,” Williams said, referring to the National Basketball Association star who has popularized outside shooting.

The hexagon court may not be the city’s last. Williams said if the hoops at Huntington Park prove to be popular enough, the department would look at other sites for future installations. Whether it’s basketball courts or not, though, the new parks commissioner wants to see unique projects.

“New, cool, innovative ideas — I’m all for those,” he said.

Huntington Park is adjacent to the Syracuse City School District’s Huntington Pre-K-8 School, which will have access to the new court. City and school officials had arranged for a physical education class to toss up some shots as part of a ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for Friday, but rain postponed the event. The city will look to schedule that event in the spring.

Funding for the basketball court came through the parks department’s capital improvement plan budget.

The city has another project in the works at Huntington Park. A $200,000 expansion of the East Woods Skate Plaza, which opened in 2014, is in the planning stages with a goal of having work started next year. A grant secured by state Sen. Rachel May will cover the cost.

City reporter Jeremy Boyer can be reached at [email protected], (315) 657-5673, Twitter or Facebook.