Saturday was a very active day in the Lowell Neighborhood.

Hundreds of volunteers met up at Lowell Elementary School to kick of HandsOn Central California’s Make A Difference Day. This is an annual event that focuses local volunteers on one neighborhood with the hope of making a big difference. Mayor Ashley Swearengin was on hand to release the volunteers into the neighborhood.

archop park AKA San Pablo Family Park was one on several locations that volunteers worked at. From 9am to noon 30+ volunteers planted desert willow trees, and daffodil bulbs. We cleaned up garbage, broken glass and even some dirty needles. Other projects at the park include tree trimming, repainting the graffiti covered chessboard and setting up a bike race track.

Volunteers came from Heald College, Fresno City College, HandsOn, and Twitter. Donations came from Intermountain Nursery, H&E Nursery, and A-1 Feed Store.
Below are photos taken by myself and James Collier

We got our first donation for archop park!

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It is very exciting that the endeavor to revitalize a Central Fresno park that began in March is becoming real. The story of how we got to the first donation is as interesting as the donation itself.

I had made the decision to propose building the park incrementally rather than all at once like Extreme Makeover: Park Edition as originally planned. While this does draw out the process, it also makes it more attainable.

James Collier approached archop about HandsOn Central California doing a Make a Difference Day at the park on October 24th. Now we had man power. So the challenge became, where do we start and what materials will we need?

Trees are a good start. We had developed concepts for plantings at the park with landscape architect Design Lab 252.

Those concepts are to make sustainable plant choices i.e. low maintenance and drought tolerant. We also wanted to change the atmosphere of the park. Currently, all the plant life is at the perimeter. Sounds of the road and freeway inundate the park. We want plant life within the park and to introduce nature sounds.

We propose placing a strip of trees in the break between the freeway ramps. This is one of the few locations that gets full sun. We also consulted with Fresno State professor of Biology and bird specialist Madhusudan Katti for trees that fit our parameters (low water, attractive to birds and wildlife).

We took Madhu’s recommendations to Intermountain Nursery in Prather. They specialize in drought tolerant native plants. After making our pitch to the nursery, we got our first park donation.

Owner, Ray Laclergue, gladly offered us five Desert Willow trees. Which are small with a beautiful flower. And 3 Valley Oak trees. They grow very large and can survive our intense summers.

With flowers and acorns from the trees, the park will be enlivened with bugs, birds and squirrels evoking a park feeling in this urban triangle.

Below is a view of the proposed changes to the park. A basketball court is in the foreground the trees are in the background. Thee trees we will be planting now are small (3-5 feet) but will grow over the years to fill the space nicely.

And a reminder, fall is the season to plant trees. If there is a hole in your landscaping, consider filling it with a native tree. Take a visit to Intermountain Nursery. Support this archop sponsor helping us improve the built environment in the San Joaquin Valley.

We have been working in collaboration with graphic designer Floyd Sanchez of Anti Laboratories. The goal being the development of archop park wayfinding and place making signage.

Above is the conceptual design of monument signage that we propose locating at the major entries to the park. The form is inspired by the gateway signage to Kearney Boulevard. The gateway was built in 1933 designed by architect Charles Franklin.
Signage and sense of entry are powerfully tools in evoking a sense of place and community. These new gateway signs will provide park users with that.

Additionally, this for this design we draw on our experience working with sheet metal, specifically stainless steel on the art & architecture installation. The design of the fin shown would be stainless steel formed using a plasma cutter. While a striking design move with interesting shadow play, it also has an important purpose. Signage is often a magnet for graffiti and vandalism. By the words being voids, no spray paint can cover up the meaning. Also stainless steel is a rigid material with various options for cleaning.

Other signage throughout the park denoting spaces and uses, will employ a similar graffiti and vandalism resistant strategy. It is our hope that this strategy will have minimal maintenance costs and stand the test of time.

Comments are welcome.

Below is a first draft of a design for a new stage at archop park. It is a teardrop shaped concrete platform that is elevated 3 steps (18-21 inches). The existing park is in need of both some changes in elevation aswell as a central gathering place. This stage would fill that role.

This stage can be used by groups for music or other performances, anything the kids’ imaginations can conjure, a place to sit along the steps, it can also be used by skateboarders. The way the stage is shaped allows it to be used in two directions. A narrower 25 foot stage faces the grass and to the neighborhood beyond. A wider 40 foot stage faces into a roughly 50 foot by 90 foot open space in the park under the freeway.

Below is a photo I took this Saturday when I was at the park with Fresno City College students, Byron and Noam. We were there to take measurements and do some sound experiments to test the sound seat design. The stage as designed would be constructed over the paved circle at the left side of the photo.

This is a draft design so feel free to make suggestions.