Project Info
This 12-acre neighborhood park includes youth baseball fields, a central plaza, picnic areas, children’s play areas, environmental education overlooks, parking, and a restroom/concession building. The park is surrounded by sensitive open space with a number of unique educational overlooks. Each overlook features a different theme such as the birds of the area, cultural history, plants and animals, the river, and a celebration of the solstice. All plant material used at the perimeter of the park are California natives. The children’s play area incorporates Aesop’s fable, “The Wind and the Sun,” as its theme with the fable etched into the paving and elements of the playground related to the story. This project was highly controversial among the diverse Mira Mesa community, pitting youth leagues (advocating the need for more active ballfields) against the immediate neighborhood who insisted that a more passive design for the park was appropriate. The first community meeting was heated and more than 200 people attended. Through a series of workshops with a steering committee representing the various special interests, Glen Schmidt, FASLA, was able to forge a consensus.
Awards
- Award of Excellence, California Park and Recreation Society
- Merit Award, American Society of Landscape Architects, San Diego Chapter
- Project of the Year, American Public Works Association, San Diego and Imperial Counties Chapter