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
. 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.
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.
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.
Last week we focused on the design of archop park. We made some good progress. As the designs become visualized, I’ll post them here. We’ll also be taking them back to the community and the PARCS Department for further input.
One of the community requirement was nice places to sit with a good view of the park. For instance, this is a space where a parent or grandparent could relax and watch their kids play.
These seats and under the freeway, so shelter from sun or weather is not necessary. However, one of the site conditions is a large amount of noise constantly coming from the freeway above. That noise isn’t as noticeable if you’re involved in an active sport or play. Though, when sitting quietly or trying to have a conversation, the noise is distracting and irritating. So shelter from sound becomes the challenge.
The design posted here attempts to quite the freeway noise with a strategically placement of a sound panel. The panel absorbs the sound from above and creates a more pleasant sitting experience. The angle is adjustable depending on the prevalent angle of freeway noise.
The materials of this Sound Seat are reclaimed wood and galvanized light gauge steel channel, and Tectum sound board. We plan the benches to be scrap chunk of granite from local quarries.
This design is still conceptual and will be refined depending upon community input, structural calculations, and materials donated.
Several times over the last few weeks I’ve been asked “how’s the park going?” This question has helped me realize two things. First, that there is a community buzz about this park, people want to see it come to fruition. And second, that since we announced the community drawing workshop at the park on April 17th, I’ve been silent about the park.
Here is a run down of what has happened from that workshop until now:
The workshop went well. There were several families, community leaders, and a dozen children of varying ages that participated. We made drawings of “our ideal park”. This exercise both engaged community members giving them a voice and helped us get an idea of what would draw different user groups into the park. It also helped me exercise my underused Spanish skills. To coordinate the workshop I was joined by Hank Delcore and Elfego Franco with the Institute of Public Anthropology at CSUF. And a big thanks to Terri Uyeki for bringing supplies and Shaunt Yemenjian for photographing the process.
We have assembled a very talented Pro-bono design team:
The design team has met twice and developed a conceptual design. The concept is to create a park with out the standardized or prefabricated park accessories. We will use repurposed materials that is sculptural in form. The park will provide the amenities the community desires and offers a cohesive visual treat to the passerby.
A few weeks back I received the CAD drawings of how the park of San Pablo & Belmont as built. The project had originally been done by civil engineer, Keith Campbell of AECOM
These drawings, called as-builts, saved us allot of time because we don’t have to start the drawings from scratch and verify the existing conditions. We can use these as-builts as or base drawings for the redeveloped design.
I was able to bring this CAD drawing into SketchUp in order to study the sun angles and shade patterns that the 180 freeway overpasses create on the ground.
As the design develops it will be posted here. Of course budget issues make this more relevant. archop park as planned will be entirely funded by private donation. If you wish to make a financial or material donation of any amount please contact us.
At the corner of San Pablo & Belmont is a clean but stark triangle of concrete and gravel quietly winding under the rush of the 180.
This is a park. However, it’s not a park in the sense of the feelings that word can evoke. There are not children playing, no one socializing, no one getting some sun or sleeping under a tree. There is no one engaged in a playful sport. There is no where to sit but the ground.
This is a left over space. It is the remainder of the 180 slicing through neighborhoods, the Fulton Lowell to the South and Tower District o the North. At the junction of these neighborhoods and amount of traffic, this site has great potential.
Working in partnership with the Hank Delcore PhD and the Institute of Public Anthropology of CSUF we seek to gather community input. Nothing has been designed yet, so this is an opportunity for you to help craft this park to suit your needs.
So come down to the park, do some drawing, talk about the landscape of your dreams and have fun. We will provide refreshments and plenty of paper and markers.
This is also National Architecture Week. Today topic being inclusiveness, it is no accident in the scheduling of this date for the design workshop. We would like to get the community included in the designing of Fresno revitalized. Join us in reinventing and activating this urban park.
A special thanks to the City of Fresno PARCS Department and City Manager’s Office.
