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Lakeland, FL - February 25, 2010
BCI Engineers & Scientists, Inc. is proud to announce that one of its recent projects received an award from the Heart of Florida Planning Chapter for its planning excellence on Common Ground Park. The Heart of Florida Planning Chapter of the Florida American Planning Association presented the award for the City of Lakeland’s Common Ground Park. The City was presented with the award on January 27, 2010. BCI was in attendance with the City at the presentation.
BCI’s Timothy Kelly, PE, CPSWQ served as the project civil engineer and Gary Warner, RLA, ASLA, AICP was the project manager/landscape architect of the park. The City of Lakeland is a long-standing client for BCI, which serves as one of the City’s park planning consultants.Submissions were judged in the categories of innovative design, contribution to the community, and the impact on neighborhood revitalization.
Common Ground Park managed to be the stand-out among the competition due to its popularity with the citizens of Lakeland, its success in fulfilling the planning and design objectives, and the number of visitors from outside of Lakeland into the region. The original intent was a modification to an existing playground area. However, this slowly grew into a complete park redevelopment. The park is designed as a recreational area that can be easily enjoyed by everyone of every ability. Its purpose is to provide recreation opportunities for children with a disability to play alongside able-body children and adults. The success of the design removes some of the stigma of recreation for people with disabilities. The work required thorough knowledge of inclusive play as well as the need to a provide stormwater management systems that fit the park’s landscaping and primary recreational uses.
Butterflies are a common fixture within the design of the park, so much that a portion of the playground area was designed in the shape of a butterfly. “The butterfly theme seemed appropriate for a park designed for kids. Just like our kids, no two butterflies are exactly alike. We used this concept as a selling point to raise money, generate interest, and keep a story behind the park’s purpose,” Warner said. Aside from its aesthetically-pleasing design, the park is also innovative by its treatment of stormwater that is generated from the park area. The drainage of the stormwater is designed to keep the elements of the park safe and to maintain its aesthetically-pleasing appearance.
The stormwater is directed out of the park to the far corner of the property at the edge of an open playing field. Therefore, all but a corner of the playing field can still be used for recreation, except right after it rains and the stormwater filters into the ground. The design maximizes use of the park’s land while maintaining its aesthetics and function for recreation. “The park was designed to accommodate the stormwater in a way to where it wasn’t an eyesore,” Kelly said. “BCI worked seamlessly with the architect, the City, and park patrons to ensure that we could provide the best facility possible.” Common Ground Park is accessible to anyone from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily. The park’s location is 1000 East Edgewood Drive in Lakeland.
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