Governors Park

Governors Park is located on a 40-acre parcel on Daniel Island, just off Interstate 526.  It is a community park owned by the City of Charleston with a program to provide both active and passive recreation opportunities to the public.  The Park will feature a dog park, playground, picnic areas, waterfront trail, two baseball fields, and a nine-acre grand lawn.

New Active Park on Daniel Island

The layout and design of the park is intended to fit into the landscape by minimizing impacts to existing tree canopies and providing homage to Daniel Island’s agricultural history.  The baseball fields are set into the curve of Fairbanks Drive so that existing vegetation will provide a buffer for neighboring residents.  To further reduce impacts to these residents the fields will incorporate high end lighting designed to minimize glare and eliminate spillover of excess light.  A concession / scoring facility is located between the two fields that will offer an agrarian appearance along the edge of the grand lawn.  The grand lawn will accommodate four full-size soccer fields as well as provide open space for public events and festivals.  The pedestrian trails will be field located to minimize impacts to the landscape while providing exemplary views of the Wando River.  A 10-foot wide boardwalk will cross the marsh to connect to the existing Daniel Island waterfront trail to the south of the interstate.

Governors Park Under Construction

Construction of the park is currently underway and if you look down while driving along I-526 you will notice the grand lawn by the distinct white shade of its athletic field mix.  Construction of Governors Park is projected to be complete in early September of 2011.

Summerville Miracle League Annual “BBQ for Baseball” Fundraiser Set for April 8 & 9!

Need something to do this weekend? Mark your calendar to come out and enjoy some smokin’ live music and barbecue and help support some very special kids in their desire to play America’s game in the process. This year’s BBQ for Baseball fundraiser is being held Friday & Saturday, April 8-9, 2011  at 200 Trolley Road in Summerville, SC. Wings are the specialty of the night on Friday followed by Saturday’s ‘all you can eat’ BBQ.

Started in 1999, the Miracle League organization is dedicated to the idea that all children including special needs kids should have the opportunity to play baseball. Today, there are over 240 Miracle League fields in the U.S. Canada, Puerto Rico and Australia. These fields are specially designed to accommodate a variety of developmental challenges and pave the way for children, youth, and young adults to play baseball and experience the joy and camaraderie of team sports.

Chris Campeau with SeamonWhiteside + Associates’s Landscape Architecture department is an active member of the board of the Summerville Miracle League and will be on hand to keep the festivities rollin’. Thanks for all your hard work and dedication, Chris!

For more information, visit the SML website.

SW+A’s Sanders and Anderson’s Complete the Street Committee to hold public meeting

Throughout the country, public awareness of the benefits of biking and walking/running for recreation, fitness, stress relief, and as an alternative form of transportation has been increasing exponentially. As the movement towards healthier lifestyles gains momentum, residents are coming together to plan and build safer networks of bike lanes and walking trails. According to the League of American Bicyclists, South Carolina currently ranks 33 out of 50 for bicycle friendly communities, a ranking that communities like Anderson are working to change.

A group of volunteers came together to form Anderson’s Complete Streets committee, which includes long time SW+A Greenville staffer and biking enthusiast, Blake Sanders, to address the need for bike and pedestrian paths in the city and to plan for where those paths should be developed. On Tuesday evening, March 22, 2011, the group will host a public meeting to discuss the issue will be held at the Anderson Recreation Center.

Local newspaper the Anderson Independent Mail has published an informative article about Tuesday’s meeting and the Complete Streets committee.

SW + A helps with Coastal Carolina’s first green building!

Coastal Carolina University has opened the Adkins Fieldhouse, the first green building on campus.  The Fieldhouse is expected to earn LEED Gold certification.  The 55,400 square foot facility was built at the north end of Brooks Stadium, home to CCU’s football team.  A 9,000 square foot weight room and all of CCU’s Athletic Staff offices are located within the fieldhouse.  The exterior of the facility incorporates light colored surfaces to reduce its heat island effect.  Open grid pavements and pervious pavers were used to allow storm water runoff to infiltrate the soil, which reduces the amount of water leaving the site.  SW+A’s Ike Boatwright, P.E., LEED AP provided civil engineering and construction administration services for the project.

Check out the full article including a video here:

http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/06/23/1547892/ccus-field-house-ready-to-impress.html

A Real Biker’s Dream

If you happen to be one of the 57 million Americans who ride a bike on a regular basis, you were probably just as excited as I was when Google announced the addition of biking directions to the already popular Google Maps.

If you bike anything like me, this additional application will help with a regular daily ride to the grocery store, church or riding with my son’s bike trailer. Then new application includes integrated bike lanes, bike friendly roads, trails and greenways. Google also built in its own power-exertion calculator, avoiding any and all “unreasonable degrees of exertion.”

Care to take a ride from our office in Greenville, SC to eat lunch in Travelers Rest, SC?  Google maps will place you on a 30 minute ride along a Vardry Street bike lane (designed by SW+A), to a gracious 14′ travel lane on Augusta, to a bike lane on River Street (designed by SW+A) and finally to the Swamp Rabbit Trail (designed by SW+A).

Anyone up for a ride to San Francisco?  It’s only 10 days, 19 hours of straight biking! Not only is bike riding good for the environment, it’s also good for your health and well-being. Google Map your way to a more environmentally-friendly and healthy lifestyle today.

Post by Richard Sanders of SW+A

Big Toy, Big Fun!

CAMERON CLEMENTS, LEED® AP
LAND PLANNER/URBAN DESIGN

I recently had the opportunity to be involved with the design team for the new playground at Palmetto Islands County Park. For the first time in my professional career, I was able to hold meetings on a swing set and test out new playground equipment which is not your typical day at the office. The playground was designed with imagination and interaction in mind. The team wanted to create an innovative and exciting new play space that would meet the needs of children’s physical and social growth.

The playground equipment is physically challenging to the new user and also encourages kids to come back time and time again. To help enhance social skills, we provided spaces for children to have more personal talks with their friends and other children.  These spaces are equipped with fun hammock seats that allow children the opportunity to talk face to face and develop valuable communication skills.  There are also shaded picnic areas for parents and families that have become the new hot spot for birthday parties.  We provided seating areas throughout the park and within the play spaces so parents won’t miss any of the action.  There are separate play areas for 2-5 year olds and 5-12 year olds.  The climbing boulder and sand play area is appropriate for all ages and promotes interaction between the younger and older kids. And for those hot summer days, there is a mist pole for cooling off.

Kids of all ages love the Big Toy

Not only is the playground beneficial to its users, it is also environmentally sensitive.  We utilized recycled materials whenever feasible.  The equipment is comprised of recycled aluminum and 30% recycled steel.  The equipment is also PVC and Phthalates free.  The benches are made from recycled plastic and the colorful rubberized surface is made from 100% recycled tires and is 100% pervious. This surface material allowed us to position the playground within the Live Oaks on the site without harming the trees.  We also used only native plant material that doesn’t require irrigation and also provides habitat for the surrounding wildlife.  I hope everyone in their professional career has an opportunity to design for children. This was such a fun and rewarding project.