Project State: Florida

92nd Street Park

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As a component of the Town-wide parks and open space master plan discussions moderated by CGA, an under-utilized parking lot was converted to a park space. The program for the park included an open green lawn area that could serve for multiple functions and a dedicated dog run area. Under a very tight and demanding schedule, CGA designed, permitted and provided construction administration services for the entirety of the park. At its core, the park design sought to establish an urban relationship with its surrounding walk-to context. The design provides an urban plaza that is open and accessible at all times, in addition to the multi-use field and dog areas, which are only open during daytime hours. The design was articulated to provide as much space as users can personalize with various seating options to facilitate visitors’ use of the facilities, as well as exercise equipment, doggie agility equipment, water fountains, solar-powered lighting and ample use of shade.

Sombrero Beach Park

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Sombrero Beach Park, located in the City of Marathon, has been for years the core of the City’s civic spaces. The park has been used for daily recreational uses as a beachfront park and for seasonal events, such as the City’s Fourth of July Celebration. Additionally, the beach park is a designated turtle nesting habitat, utilized by four predominant species of turtles. CGA was approached by the City and the Community of Marathon to redesign the park to expand its programming for recreational uses, enhance its environmental condition as a turtle nesting habitat, and provide new on-site amenities that were sensitive to the architectural character of the Florida Keys. More importantly, the redesign for the park preserved and strengthened the role the public space had with the aspects of the community’s identity. CGA expanded the program for the park to include extensive, walkable circuits for pedestrian use, children’s playground and play equipment, restroom facilities, new gateway and controlled access features, added picnic shelters, volleyball courts, and multiple-use open public spaces that lend themselves to the personalization of the park by the visitors. The design reestablished a beach dune habitat in a manner that would be conducive to the promotion of turtle nesting and the protection of the nests from tampering or neglectful destruction.

Rolling Oaks Park

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CGA designed a pedestrian trail within Rolling Oaks Park and through the surrounding neighborhood to connect the new trail in the park to an existing walking trail in the Dolphin Center Park, located 3/4-mile away. The design for the trail included new outdoor fitness stations, seating areas, and LED site lighting. A study was conducted by CGA to determine the best route for the walkway through the neighborhood and what urban improvements would be needed. New crosswalks are being added along with a solar powered, on-demand pedestrian crossing signal where the trail leaves the park. A custom-designed way-finding signage program was developed for all of the trailhead signs, directional signs, and mile markers. This afforded the City of Miami Gardens a unique opportunity for branding within the community. Besides determining the best route through the neighborhood, the CGA team had to carefully plan the route for the trail through the park so as to not disturb the hundreds of existing Live Oak trees on the site. Using GPS technology, the CGA team worked out the best route for the trail in the field, and then returned to the office to translate those points into the final alignment for the pathway. In addition, the existing drainage permit for the site had to be modified for the trail improvements. These new drainage facilities also had to be carefully planned to avoid removing any trees. CGA also provided construction administration services for the project.

Delray Beach SW 9th Avenue & SW 1st Street

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CGA designed and oversaw the construction of this public park site to also serve as public parking for the local neighborhood. Enhanced by native trees and shrubs and carpeted by pervious pavers, the new public space is resolving parking needs in the West Neighborhood area within the CRA district. This resilient design is also reducing pollution, energy costs and emission of greenhouse gases. The parking lot component utilizes “green design,” consisting of pervious pavers, decorative LED lighting, and low-volume irrigation. This project continues Delray Beach’s cutting-edge leadership in sustainable solutions. Additionally, this site provides a tot lot for the local community and includes both adult fitness equipment. The concept specifically was designed with CPTED principles to encourage close surveillance by the parents and neighbors. A roundabout was included in the right of way as a traffic calming device for greater safety. The parking area covers two blocks which includes a “zig-zag” design for traffic calming and to discourage cut through traffic.

Clear Lake Trail Conceptual Design (Unbuilt)

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One priority for this project, based upon the West Palm Beach Downtown Mobility Plan, was to improve the overall mobility for downtown residents, employees and visitors to the City of West Palm Beach. CGA developed a conceptual design for a trail envisioned to provide resilient and critical connectivity from the west side of Clear Lake to the downtown urban core to promote bicycling and walking to work and to social activities. The project also incorporated opportunities to enhance water quality protection in Clear Lake, as it is a source for drinking water for the City of West Palm Beach. An added component of the vision was the opportunity for natural resource ecosystem education.

Our approach encompassed four main themes:

  • Increase interaction by developing a connected system of linear trail spaces that focus on the water source for the community and by creating a sequence of indispensable, inter-connected gathering spaces;
  • Provide a multiscale, sustainable solution to community design and site development that seeks to protect the City’s vital water source and use it as an opportunity to educate and demonstrate the importance of water preservation and natural processes;
  • Maximize connectivity through the Clear Lake trail that provides a linear park system with a design detailing that will create special community gathering spaces for meaningful moments and take steps to enhance the lake edges with resilient solutions to preserve the lake banks while create healthy habitats, plant and animal communities, capture site drainage, and
  • Shape the character and identity of the trail to the community.

Civic Center Park (Unbuilt)

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CGA reimagined a vacant lot outside of the Community Center that would inherently become a gateway to the Village’s civic area and collection of municipal complexes. The CGA design team approached the project as a timeless design that would relate to its surrounding functions of government, recreation and open space and would communicate a continued, upscaled quality. The park’s main component included a flexible open lawn area that doubled as a ‘civic’ green space that could be used for its versatility. The lawn area, outside of its passive day-to-day activity, could become a dynamic space that would transform into an event space to hold concerts, food trucks, community fitness activities, and markets. All of these components were incorporated to support programming in the Community Center and serve as an economic driver to the area. Other park components include an artwork plaza, a custom pergola design that enhances the branding of the area, sculptural boulder elements, passive congregation areas, and a pump track. The project also included lush landscape improvements, site drainage, and site lighting.

Windmill Park

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Design improvements to Windmill Park in Coconut Creek consisted of expanding the existing park with the purchase of an adjacent single-family lot and orchard to the east of the site. The CGA project work included the preservation of many large trees, the addition of two new parking lots, expansion of sidewalk/exercise path improvements, reconstruction of tennis courts, a drainage system, enhanced planting and irrigation, all of which officially opened for public use July 2018. CGA’s multidisciplinary team were responsible for improving the current area with new lighting, repositioning tennis courts, expanding the two dog parks, adding ADA-approved play apparatus, stationed outdoor exercise paths, picnic pavilions, and restrooms. In addition, the CGA team was responsible for the design of 2 new parking lots for additional parking spaces, pavement marking and signage, water and sewer, sidewalk improvements, re-grading of the entire site, drainage system consisting of structures, pipes, and retention area.

Charles E. Deering Estate Landscape Restoration

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The Charles E. Deering Estate at Cutler, located in South Florida, is a 430-acre environmental, historical, and archaeological park. The largest of its kind, it serves as a center for education and recreation. The park grounds feature several of Florida’s native habitat communities, including mangrove swamps, maritime hammocks, a coastal tropical hardwood hammock, an endangered pine rockland forest, and a variety of archaeological resources, most notably one of the few remaining Tequesta Indian burial mounds. In 1992 Hurricane Andrew virtually destroyed the Estate. The storm’s winds ravaged the landscape and decimated the historic structures. After extensive cleanup, the CGA developed an award-winning master plan for the restoration of the Estate’s extensive landscape grounds; the siting of and plantings surrounding new maintenance, trailhead, and environmental demonstration facilities; updating the grounds for ADA compliance; the re-sculpting of a Champion Black Olive Tree; the re-establishment of a destroyed historic palm glade; and the overall coordination between the Project Architect, the Historical Preservation Group, the Miami-Dade County Parks Department, and the General Contractor.

Patch Reef Park

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CGA was selected by the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Parks District to provide design, permitting, bidding and construction management services for the conversion of three existing natural grass fields to synthetic turf fields at Patch Reef Park. The project included the design for the installation of synthetic turf fields, the drainage system under the new fields, relocation of existing utilities, sidewalk improvements, relocation of existing landscaping, and modifications to the irrigation system. The new synthetic turf fields feature a totally organic mix of in-fill material, which means there is no black crumb rubber on the fields. The new fields also feature a new automatic, underground irrigation system that will greatly assist the park staff in keeping the field moist, which is a requirement for the organic in-fill material. This irrigation system can also be utilized to keep the fields cool in the summer months. The fields were designed to serve multiple sports, including football, lacrosse and soccer. In order to construct the new fields, several existing Sabal Palms had to be relocated, major modifications were made to the existing irrigation system in the park, and new landscaping was added. CGA also provided complete construction administration and inspection services throughout the construction of the project.

Peace Mound Park

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The impetus for the project lied in addressing existing ADA accessibility issues and bringing the park up to the same high standards of other parks in the city. Another major concern during the design of the project was the preservation of the existing tree canopy and the shaded, passive feeling of the park. Due to the significant amount of re-grading that was necessary in order to make the park ADA accessible, 85 of the nearly 500 existing trees had to be removed, and another 120 trees were relocated on site. To offset this loss, however, 150 new trees have been planted, including 18 specimen Live Oak trees. All of the walkways throughout the park are now accessible by wheelchair, and in many cases, this is made possible through the use of decorative stone retaining walls, which allowed for the preservation of the many existing mature trees within the park. The existing tot lot and swings have been replaced with a new play area that includes play equipment for children of all ages and physical abilities. The main play structure is completely accessible by children in wheelchairs, with a ramp leading up to the main platforms. Another major feature of the park is that it contains a significant archeological site with artifacts from the Tequesta Indians. Throughout the course of the project, care was taken not to disturb this area, and 8 new bronze plaques with information on the history of the area have been inlaid in the walkways that surround it.

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