The city of Carlsbad was recently honored by the American Public Works Association for Pine Avenue Park.
The city won a Project of the Year award in the parks category. The award recognizes outstanding projects throughout San Diego and Imperial Counties. Pine Avenue Park was specifically cited for successfully combining an outstanding public outreach process, art and the use of environmentally sound materials.
“We are proud to create a park that both complements, and is responsible to, the environment,” said Park Development Manager Mark Steyaert. “We received input from neighbors and sports groups, we even held a special workshop for children, to develop a park that truly captures the character of the community.”
During a series of interactive public workshops, the park planning team heard from the community that the ocean and the rich commercial flower industry were important elements in their identity as a community. These elements became the underlying theme of the park's character and amenities, and can be seen in the paving patterns, tree placement, art, shade structures and contouring of the natural turf area.
Carlsbad's rich history in the flower growing industry is depicted in five, 12-feet-tall ceramic tile sculptures. Each flower is one of the significant crops from the area and is described on plaques with common and botanical names sandblasted into the pavement.
Environmental responsibility was another key element of the park's design.
Hallmarks of the park are the three previously existing Ficus trees. Massive in size, each tree is nearly 50 feet in diameter. Careful considerations were made throughout the design and construction process to protect these historic trees.
The multi-use field is an artificial turf facility requiring no watering. This further lessens the parks taxation on the region's already stressed water supply and minimizes maintenance requirements while providing year-round, active recreation space to the community.
The park's tree and shrub selection are all drought tolerant, low water use materials. Storm water from the site is handled by running much of the park's drainage through planters and turf, and by the new parking lot, which is constructed entirely of pervious concrete. The material helps control pollution by increasing the amount of water absorbed into the ground, thereby reducing runoff.
Pine Avenue Park is a 7.7-acre community park located at the corner of Harding Street and Pine Avenue, adjacent to the Carlsbad Senior Center. The park includes an informal amphitheater, a multi-purpose field of synthetic turf, basketball courts, batting cages, a children's play area, picnic areas, public art and traffic calming street improvements. The city contracted Schmidt Design Group as landscape architects and prime designers for the project.
Carlsbad residents highly value recreation and parks in their city. The 2006 City of Carlsbad Public Opinion Survey found that more than 90 percent of Carlsbad residents rated recreation programs and parks in the city in the “excellent” to “good” range.
Research shows that 75 percent of Americans live within two miles of a public park or recreation facility. Also, more than 75 percent of the population takes advantage of their local parks and recreation facilities, which amounts to a staggering 192 million people visiting annually.
The Carlsbad Recreation Department's mission is to build a strong community through a broad range of high-quality recreation and park services for all who live, work and recreate in Carlsbad. Through a variety of programs and initiatives – ranging from the award-winning T.R.U.S.T. sportsmanship program and Trail Blast fitness program to senior services and enrichment classes, the Recreation Department is dedicated to providing safe places to gather, lifelong learning opportunities, programs that strengthen families and build a strong sense of community and health and fitness opportunities, as well as trails, parks and open space.
For more information on parks and recreation in the city of Carlsbad, call (760) 434-2826 or visit
www.CarlsbadConnect.org.

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