Robert Mowat Associates was retained by a national builder to develop a park program and planning process for a community of 3,000 in Manteca, California. The site, a sandy flat plain of 11 acres required a retention basin for the holding and treatment of all storm water. Our firm held numerous meetings with the community attended by hundreds that helped create a process for creating a park program. Ultimately, a park master plan was created that included tennis courts, pickle ball courts, amphitheater, restrooms, golf chipping course, walking and biking trails, an outdoor kitchen, shade structures and a community wide icon structure.
Our firm gave physical form to the desired park uses with a plan that located all of the active uses around a central Paseo which accommodates farmer’s markets, musical concerts and social fairs. Plantings were chosen for their low water use in sandy soils. The treatment of storm water in the basin was complemented with the integration of both an amphitheater and an open lawn sports field. A golf chipping course was modeled on several of the world’s most famous holes in golf. Golf greens and fringes were built with artificial turf to preserve water while fairways were designed with a low water use turf to preserve the feel of an actual course.
