March 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 37

The Children's Play Area at Evelyn's Park provides an imaginative play
space for children, comfortable, shaded seating for parents and easy
access to a lawn area suitable for a variety of communitywide events.

Partners with Purpose
With the goal of net zero in mind, Evelyn's Park turned to Lake
| Flato (www.lakeflato.com), a nationally recognized sustainable
architecture firm, to design the park. Our desire for the park's office and event pavilion was to create something that incorporated
the park's natural surroundings. Facilities were artfully crafted to
merge with the landscape and include features that are functional, beautiful and environmentally responsible. Lighting fixtures
that emulate tree branches, building siding and shade elements
that serve as armatures for plantings, children's play areas incorporating original tree stumps and shade canopies from Texas Live
Oaks are just some of the ways the park's structures seamlessly
integrate authentic character into the landscape.
Once the design was in place, it was time to identify a sustainability partner that could make our net zero goal a reality.
That's where the Green Mountain Energy Sun Club® (www.gme
sunclub.org) came in. The organization's mission is to invest in
nonprofits to advance sustainability for people and the planet.
It does this by funding a wide variety of solar and sustainability
projects, including those focused on renewable energy, energy
efficiency and resource conservation. Evelyn's Park went to the
Sun Club with the idea for a large solar array, and together with
Lake | Flato, they designed a system for the park's office and
event pavilion that would generate enough renewable energy for
day-to-day operations.
Taking our vision to the next level, the Sun Club's expertise
helped us create a sustainability solution that surpassed expectations. " In identifying rainwater capture and composting options, our team looked beyond the expected and delivered the
exceptional, " says Mark Parsons, president, Green Mountain
Energy Sun Club.
With a donation of more than $300,000 from the Sun Club,
the park incorporated additional features, knowing that doing so
would lead Evelyn's Park to become one of the most sustainable
parks in the nation. When all systems are installed, by late 2018,
the park will feature a total of 73 kilowatts of solar power, several
on-site tumbler composters and a 20,000-gallon underground cistern that will capture a significant amount of rainwater, mitigating 40 percent of the park's overall water consumption.
Enhance Your Park
With a growing emphasis on nature and resource conservation
in urban areas, existing and new parks nationwide are now prioritizing sustainability alongside accessibility and aesthetic ap-

Photo by Mariella Ayala

our goal, park management knew we needed to choose our business partners with purpose, selecting organizations that specialize in environmental responsibility.

peal. From long-term, more extensive solutions, such as those
featured at Evelyn's Park, to more simple and immediate improvements, reinforcing sustainability has a positive impact on
the park, the community and the environment.
The first step to take when considering net zero or how to
make your park more environmentally friendly is to identify
strong partners, like the Sun Club, that focus on sustainability. The partners serve as trusted advisers that help bring your
project to life, while providing valuable recommendations along
the way that strengthen the environmental impact. As an advocate for net zero and park sustainability, Evelyn's Park hopes to
inspire more parks to realize the benefit of being responsible
stewards of our environment.
Denton Ragland is Executive Director of Evelyn's Park
(denton.ragland@gmail.com).

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March 2018 - Parks & Recreation

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