Ft. Worth (WBAP/KLIF News) – A neighborhood in Ft. Worth will be the first in the country to include a “Makerspace.” The workshops provides people with tools they may not be able to keep at home. The Makerspace in Ft. Worth will be built into the Walsh neighborhood near the I-20/I-30 merge.
Developers of Makerspace have introduced the facilities around the world. General Electric opened a Makerspace on the ground floor of its headquarters in Boston; a Makerspace is being built at the former Brooklyn Army Terminal.
A Makerspace includes room for people to draw plans and use equipment like laser cutters, lathes and woodworking equipment.
“These tools are actually really easy to use,” says Mark Hatch, the chief executive of Maker Partners. “You don’t have to be a master woodworker to have master quality work coming out of here.”
While Makerspace has set up tech shops in other cities, this will be the first included in the design of a neighborhood.
“I believe it’s going to have a fundamental impact on the type of people who are going to be in and around the community,” Hatch says. “There are going to be a number of people who buy in that community simply because of Makerspace.”
Hatch says Ft. Worth was a strong market for the concept, since companies like Lockheed Martin and Bell Helicopter are among the area’s biggest employers. Each Makerspace, he says, has taken on its own identity.
Ford sponsored a Makerspace in Detroit. The company now includes a Makerspace at each of its research and development facilities. The shop in New York, Hatch says, has been popular among people designing jewelry.
In one case, he says a woman in San Francisco brought cupcakes to her nephew’s birthday party with bamboo nametags for each person. When the nametags in each cupcake were popular, she took classes with the laser cutter and learned how to make them on a larger scale.
Hatch says she started marketing the cupcake toppers and made enough money to take a six month vacation with her husband.
“She picked up the skills in three hours, and she did it accidentally!” he says. “Access to tools is everything. Access to power, easy-to-use tools makes innovation accessible to everyone.”
The first homes in the Walsh development should be built next month. Makerspace should be finished in July. Residents can pay a monthly fee for access to the workshop.
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