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Creekside Common - Chelsea, Mass.09-01-11 | News

Creekside Common
Chelsea, Mass.

ICON parks design, Dorchester, Mass.

Dispersed along a twisting stone dust path are musical instruments (Freenotes)?EUR??,,????'?????<

Chelsea is a 1.8 square mile city located just north of Boston. sandwiched between Chelsea Creek, Mill Creek, Mystic River and Island End River. Although the city is surrounded by water, the majority of the waterfront is zoned for heavy industry, making public access to the waterfront almost nonexistent.

Chelsea is the second most densely populated community in Massachusetts and home to a diverse ethnic, working-class population, with low to moderate income. Newly arriving immigrants and refugees come to Chelsea for the nearby work opportunities in Boston, and its lower cost of living. Within the confines of the city exist 50 state-designated hazardous waste sites that overshadow the city?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Designed to reflect the lines of the Tobin Bridge, the trellis reflects that iconic gateway which connects Chelsea to Boston. Architectural Timber & Millwork of Hadley, Mass. fabricated the trellis from southern yellow pine timbers. The wood was pretreated by TimberSIL?EUR??,,????'?????<

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The Site
Creekside Common occupies one acre of land, once part of the old Parkway Plaza, a 34-acre site that until recently was an abandoned shopping center. The boarded up adult movie house, strip club and bankrupt businesses served as stark reminders of a city?EUR??,,????'?????<

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This view shows the decorative plantings in the Therapeutic Room?EUR??,,????'?????<

First Phase of Redevelopment
The first phase of redevelopment of the Parkway Plaza began with Home Depot and smaller commercial anchor tenants. Following closely behind was John M. Corcoran and Company?EUR??,,????'?????<

With Corcoran?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Etched in granite, the map of Chelsea is a reminder that the city is surrounded by rivers and creeks, all leading to Boston?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Rediscovering the Waterfront
Planned as a major node along the newly constructed Mill Creek waterfront walkway, the park was conceived as an intergenerational recreational oasis. Divided into eight outdoor rooms, this handicap accessible park lets visitors
learn about the Chelsea waterfront through engraved passages in the pavements and boulders that depict memories and experiences.

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The lush green of the lawn sets off the bocce court and horseshoe pits. The low segmental retaining wall (Versa-Lok Retaining Wall Systems) defines this outdoor room and provides ample space for spectator seating. Beyond, the wood trellis rises towards the sky, reflecting the upward thrust of the Tobin Bridge that it emulates.?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Gateway Room
The park hub (?EUR??,,????'?????<

Designed to emulate the lines of the Tobin Bridge, the trellis reflects that iconic gateway that connects Chelsea to Boston. Steel cables and Tivoli lights, which reinforce the lines of the structure, are reminiscent of the tall ships that frequented Boston Inner Harbor. The wood trellis will one day be covered with grape vines.

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The raised planting bed at the core of the Therapeutic Garden provides seating for the able-bodied and an opportunity for the elderly and people confined to wheelchairs easy access to the some of the site?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Ice Rink
To the right of the trellis lies the smooth, slip-free synthetic-surfaced, year round ice rink. The rink is used for other activities also, like dancing. The rink is illuminated at night and surrounded by rails that support a pliable, stainless steel mesh and synthetic ice kick plate. The rail allows expansion and contraction of the synthetic ice so that at no time does the concrete surfacing below endanger skaters. Small conically shaped evergreens are planted around the ice rink to add a ?EUR??,,????'?????<

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The water play area is divided into a soft surfaced run and tumble area, and a boulder/water play area. The foreground area is activated by two ?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Horseshoes and Bocce
To the left of the trellis lies the horseshoe and bocce courtroom, which is surrounded by a low CMU block wall backed by earth and lush plantings. The wall expands opportunities for seating and encloses this low impact activity area that is a draw for the more senior set and curious youngsters.

Therapeutic Garden
The therapeutic garden at the end of the wood trellis overlooks Mill Creek. The center of this garden is a raised planter that allows those in wheelchairs to touch and smell the lush plantings, and, if so inclined, pull a weed or two or become involved in the seasonal community planting efforts. The community helped install the plants. In the center of the planter is a ?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Bands of colorful, resilient, poured-in-place rubber surfacing (Everguard Surfacing) define this rough and tumble play space. The sculpturally attractive Cosmo Cable Net Structure (BerlinerSeilfabrik & Co.) provides climbing, sliding and socializing activities. Beyond are resilient Euroflex mushrooms and an Igloo playhouse net structure.

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Map Room
Following the path clockwise past the therapeutic garden is the ?EUR??,,????'?????<

Music Room
Following a twisting, turning stone dust path back toward the main park entrance, the ?EUR??,,????'?????<

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This hard surfaced water play area allows interaction with water without getting soaked. Some children can?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Play Structures
The remainder of the park contains more rough and tumble play. The central feature is the Cosmo Cable Net Structure (Berliner Seilfabrik & Co.). This structure, a great place for teenagers to meet and hang out, offers great views of the skating rink and water features. A smaller net structure is for the younger set. A boulders play unit provides additional climbing opportunities. The active play zone is surfaced with poured-in-place rubber in waves of color.

Water Features
The user-activated spray feature, though simple in design, provides endless hours of enjoyment in summer. Two bollards with spring operated ?EUR??,,????'?????<

At the top of boulder hill participants manually operate an old-fashioned farm-style pump to fill a miniature water raceway. Children (and adults) control the flow through the channels with miniature weirs and dams of various designs. One of the weirs is accessible from the side, where the channel comes close to an accessible play zone. Some days you?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Access to the Mill Creek walkway. The low-segmental retaining wall helped reduce the extent of hazardous waste removal. Because of hazardous waste buried beneath the site, the state mandated installation of a protective barrier and a three-foot layer of clean material placed atop it. To provide handicapped access to the Mill Creek Trail, very careful excavation and legal disposal of some of the hazardous material was undertaken, followed by the repair of the protective barrier and reinstallation of a minimum of three feet of clean material. Rather than grade down to the walk on each side, the low walls were designed to maintain the required thickness of the clean fill cover to the back of the walls without disturbing the hazardous material beyond.

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Problems and Issues
Everything, from the award of our design contract through the final construction punch list was completed in a tight, 12-month schedule. In any other municipality a project of much smaller scope could still be in the design stage. It was a great pleasure working with such enthusiastic people as John DePriest, Chelsea?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Boulders etched with short stories about the waterfront have escaped the boundaries of the ?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Hazardous Waste
There were a few issues associated with building a park on one of Chelsea?EUR??,,????'?????<

We were allowed to remove and dispose of some of the hazardous waste, but it had to be done very carefully and at great expense.

Bringing water into the site and providing two points for handicapped access caused the greatest problems. The park access points were not where the most advantageous grade change existed. To minimize the disturbance for the longest ramped access we used CMU retaining walls along its sides to maintain the required depth of cover in the adjacent plant beds. To reduce excavation for the water supply, only the water line leading to the main vault was constructed at the proper depth to prevent freezing in winter. All other lines were run shallow and designed to drain back to the vault for winterization. Drainage lines were run shallow and under the concrete walkways to prevent them from being crushed by vehicles. The canopy structure utilizes spread foundations to stay above the contaminated soils.

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Seven clusters of curved poles support the three fabric canopies that crown the central multipurpose court. The canopies offer filtered shade for the multipurpose gateway room and announce the park from afar. The pole design mimics clusters of trees. The sculptural poles have multiple attachment points for the high-tension fabric, and support for lights that highlight the canopy at night. The fabric canopy system was designed, constructed and installed by Duvall Design, West Rockport, Maine.

With the economy spiraling downward, we received excellent bids. The bid came in about $100,000 under estimate, which allowed us to add a few items during construction and the city to bank funds for future maintenance.

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This user active water feature provides water to three sprayheads activated by two ?EUR??,,????'?????<

About the Firm
ICON parks design (IPD), a sole proprietorship directed by John Ryther, ASLA, creates playgrounds that allow handicapped and able-bodied children to engage in creative play that is exciting for all. IPD works primarily in the public sector: civic plazas, streetscapes, bikeways, parks and playgrounds in Boston and outlying communities. IPD has also worked internationally in Jordan, Iran and China on projects ranging from new towns for laborers to high-end communities and villas.

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The rink?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Design Team
Prime Consultant: ICON parks design - Dorchester, Mass; www.iconparks.com
Canopy Design: (fabric and steel supports - design, fabrication and installation) - Charles Duvall, Duvall design - West Rockport, Maine
Electrical Engineer: Ronald W. Buia, Inc. - Andover, Mass.
Structural Engineering: (Canopy Poles and Foundations) Becker Structural Engineering - Portland, Maine
LSP: CDW Consultants Inc.
- Framingham, Mass.
Electrical Contractor: Dagle Electric
- Woburn, Mass.
General Contractor: J.B.M General Contractors, Inc., - Burlington, Mass.
Landscape Contractor: (Plantings, Irrigation) Prime Landscape Contractors, Inc., - Georgetown, Mass.
Steel Fabricator: (Ice rail, site rails & steel connector system for wood trellis) Woven Steel Distinctive Ironworks - East Boston, Mass.
Wood Trellis Fabricator: Architectural Timber
& Millwork - Hadley, Mass.

Suppliers
Bouldering Play Unit: (Cascade Series Model #1)
Goric, Ashland, Mass.
Drinking Fountain: (Murdock Model M-43)
Murdock-Super Secur, City of Industry, Calif.
Euroflex Mushrooms: Goric, Ashland, Maine
Granite: (engraved granite pavers, steps, granite block bench, engraved boulders and installation)
Millennium Granite Quarry and Stone Works, Wells, Maine
Net Play Structures: (Igloo 2 and Cosmo Cable Net Structures)
BerlinerSeilfabrik & Co. - Goric, Ashland, Maine
Park Benches/Picnic Tables:
Custom Fabrication Inc., Harpursville, N.Y.
Poured-in-place Resilient Rubber Surfacing:
Everguard Surfacing, Copiaque, N.Y.
Spray Heads:
PEM Corp., Mankato, Minn.
Synthetic Ice:
Ice Rink Engineering and Manufacturing, Greenville, S.C.
Trash Receptacles: (Model 63-403-15)
DuMor, Inc., Mifflintown, Pa.
Tivoli Lightsphere Xenon:
Tivoli, Santa Ana, Calif.
Water Play Weirs and Dams & Farm Pump:
Manufactured by Eibe - Supplied by Goric, Ashland, Maine
Whisper Dish:
WonderWorx, Aspen, Colo.
Windsculpture: (Star Dancer Hrizontal XHuge)
Lyman Whitaker, Whitaker Studios, Farmington, N.M.
Wood Park Sign:
Sunshine Sign Co., North Grafton, Mass.

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