Landscape Architect Articles

Garey Park Play Ranch09-27-22 | Department

Garey Park Play Ranch

This 525-acre park is a treasure trove for nature lovers
by Brian Binkowski, PLA, ASLA ???,??EURoe Senior Landscape Architect/Project Manager at Halff Associates, Inc.

Garey Park, located in Georgetown, Texas, is a sprawling playground and event center that serves as a hub for children and adults alike. Multiple play structures, pavilions, and a splash pad are all on offer at this innovative and modern park. Halff Associates, the design firm behind the project, had to match the existing architecture with their new additions, resulting in a high number of custom items being made.

This is not the only entrance to the 525 acre park, as the overarching park has many areas within and each have their own entry gateway. The Garey Play Ranch is approximately five acres. The plantings found here are Native Sage and Muhly Grass. The pavement is salt finished concrete, and the gate is made from Salado Cream Limestone and primed and painted steel.

This is the splash pad at Garey Park. In addition to the splash pad providing cooling for kids at the park, the actual placement on site is on a ridge that has prevailing wind direction across the play area almost all the time for a nice cooling effect. The entire Vortex Aquatic splash pad is also on a recycling system.

These play structures were all custom designed by GameTime, specifically to match the historical nature of Garey Park. In terms of swings, there are six belt swings, two companion swings, two zero-G accessible swings, two tot buckets, a plastic tire swing, and multiple disc swings.

This Icon Shelter resembles a racetrack grandstand and paddock. Other unique features include rocking horses and furnishings. Sages, sedges, and Muhly Grass are found in this area; all are Texas native as well as deer tolerant. The horses are Spring rider fiberglass horses.

This custom Toddler Treehouse provides an excellent way for younger kids to exert energy. The surfacing is poured-in-place rubber. The play structure uses expanded metal and GFRC in its construction.

The Adventure Treehouse, another custom design, allows kids 5 to 12 to immerse themselves into adventures. The idea of a treehouse design came about due to the large, native Live Oak Trees onsite.

This replica of the Garey Family's award-winning thoroughbred Heritage of Gold complements the play area at Garey Park. This mulit-time grade 1 winner accrued over 2 million dollars and placed in 22 of its 28 race lifetime. This statue is sculpted from GFRC and is meant to be played on and around. It is roughly the size of an actual racehorse.

The kind of pavement found in the channel along the splash pad is concrete with inlaid rock. The river rock came from the actual San Gabriel River, which can be found on-site. The Vortex splash pad itself is made of concrete with Kool Deck painted surfacing. PHOTO BY Mark Witte/Halff Associates

The play area provides plenty of unique ways for children to stay entertained throughout the day. The gray table is an accessible sand table and while the city removed sand due to maintenance problems it still provides a feature for the physically impaired. The circular contraption is called a Merry-Go-All, an accessible merry-go-round. The site furnishings are by Pilot Rock.

The pavilions and furnishings provide ample amounts of shade and seating for a relaxing time at Garey Park. Salt finished concrete is installed under the pavilions as are a number of tables. The smaller pavilion is 32 feet by 32 feet. The plantings in this area are sedges, sages, and Muhly Grass.

Local residents enjoy a festival, while kids partake in the splash pad. Events are held all the time; this photo was from the grand opening. The City recently added another medium size pavilion nearby due to popularity and rentals of pavilion space. Day camps, day cares, and birthday parties are the most popular events hosted at Garey Park. The pavilions and picnic tables can easily seat 250-300 people. PHOTO BY MARK WITTE/HALFF ASSOCIATES.

This is the existing, historical Garey House. The existing house had weathered limestone patio walls, pavement, and salt finished concrete. The conversion involved additional hardscape to match existing as well as a central Texas native and deer tolerant plant palette. Much of the playground was designed to match the style of this structure including pavement and the racehorse theme.

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A visit to Garey Park marvels you with sprawling hilltop views, pops of colorful wildflowers, and magnificent live oak and cedar trees. This Georgetown, Texas, gem is home to stunning natural landscapes that will leave you enthralled in the scenery. Whether it be the refreshing San Gabriel River, or the sprawling fields of native grasses, this 525-acre park is a treasure trove for nature lovers.

Longtime rancher, racehorse owner, and philanthropist Jack Garey and his wife Camille donated their land and house to the City of Georgetown in 2004 along with $5 million for park development. The ranch was then developed exclusively as a public park and recreational facility for the benefit of Georgetown residents and its neighboring cities. The city matched the Garey's initial donation so the land could be developed into Georgetown's largest municipal park. In 2008, voters approved a bond for an additional $10 million for park construction and hired Halff Associates, Inc. of Richardson, Texas, to develop the landscape design. This former ranch now features passive hiking trails, dedicated picnic spaces, active play areas, a four-acre dog park, wilderness exploration zones, an iconic playground, and a splash pad. The massive park also offers unique equestrian amenities such as trails, an obstacle course, and water troughs through the Equestrian Center.

Because of its diverse and ecologically significant landscape, the design of Garey Park blends many activities into an immersive nature experience. Detailed design for the project began after an extensive master-planning process involving environmental clearances that spanned nearly five years. The long-awaited park opened in June 2018, and the residents of Georgetown enjoyed an impressive and unique grand opening.

The signature play and day-use area named Garey Play Ranch pays homage to the Garey ranch land and its champion thoroughbred horse Heritage of Gold. The family had no idea what a winner she would become, and the multi-time grade one winner accumulated $2.4 million in lifetime winnings, placing in 22 of 28 races. In honor of the Garey family's love for her, one of the park's pavilions is named after Heritage of Gold.

The design team used feedback from the Garey family, the City of Georgetown, the parks advisory board, and vendor consultants when creating the vision for the park. The group proposed an environment that supported a free spirit of running and playing throughout the ranch. The thought of people climbing trees, walking past golden hay bales, and running through luscious meadows captured the Landscape Architects' desire for the project. From cooling off in the babbling river to enjoying sunsets in fields of native Texas flowers, the team was determined to turn this
idea into reality.

"Mr. Garey's passion and desire to tell the story of "a day at the ranch" is evident when you visit the Play Ranch," said Halff Project Manager, Brian Binkowski, PLA, ASLA. "There is something special and inviting about this space that tells the Garey story and provides something for all generations to experience and enjoy."
The Play Ranch consists of five unique play areas or zones: The Heritage of Gold Pavilion and Paddock, the River, the Toddler Treehouse, the Adventure Treehouse, and the Meadow.

The Heritage of Gold Pavilion and Paddock includes a custom Icon Shelter Systems pavilion designed to resemble a horse track grandstand with a complementary cupola and weathervane. Laser-cut numbers on a custom truss represent the starting gate of a horse track, and play horses are placed outside the pavilion as if they left through the gate. Complete with a circular landscape entry to the pavilion, the structure is reminiscent of a horse track paddock.

The River includes a splash pad equipped with a windmill and horse-themed sprinklers that add a whimsical touch to the interactive water activity. Underneath the splashpad, the mounded spray features exemplify the local aquifer springs system on the park site. A depressed rock-lined channel on the perimeter of the pad resembles the border river to the north of the park. The addition of flowing bubblers provides a steady stream of water in the channel. River rocks from the San Gabriel River were used to line the bottom of the channel. The splash pad components and design were provided by Vortex Aquatics.

The Toddler Treehouse is a small play structure designed for children ages 2-5 of all abilities. In this area, children may journey up the glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) live oak tree climber. The structure posts are clad with faux wood, and the shake roof is made from recycled lumber, all resembling a tree house.

The Adventure Treehouse is a large, custom play structure designed for children ages 5-12 of all abilities. The play structure resembles a larger tree house with many slide options, net bridges, faux wood posts, a recycled lumber shake roof, and GFRC hay bale and tree stump climbers.

The Meadow includes three long ziplines that are reminiscent of rushing across a meadow down near the river on horseback. The ziplines were the first of their kind installed in Texas and provide a unique
play experience.

Other play amenities and features in the Play Ranch include a GFRC replica of Heritage of Gold, perfectly located for photos, a GFRC horseshoe and rattlesnake balance beam seat-wall, a tree trunk tunnel and stepping rocks, disc swings, tire swings, and large bay swings for all ages all provided by GameTime, a PlayCore company. The safety surfacing consists of poured-in-place rubber and engineered wood fiber.

One large and four medium group pavilions are provided for day use with rental options that generate additional park revenue. The shelter structure's roof, steel frame, rock veneer, and cast stone accent match the existing Garey house on site. A large open-air restroom with a splash pad equipment room was constructed with similar materials and Tuscan style architecture that blend in with the house. Custom-designed laser-cut signs for pavilions, park rules, and entry gateways match the overall park wayfinding.

Design challenges primarily consisted of utility and scope overlap among various suppliers and design disciplines so they could ensure proper support infrastructure was provided. Construction proved the most challenging with the purchase of the pavilion materials and surfacing in addition to the turnkey installation of the splash pad equipment by the city through co-operative purchasing. The general contractor provided installation of the restroom, pavilions, subgrade, and drainage for the play area, all flatwork, and splash pad concrete. Subgrade preparation for the play area was specifically difficult in that most of the area was constructed on solid rock, requiring field adjustments to best accommodate play structures and plumbing for the splash pad. The Landscape Architect successfully navigated these requirements through weekly site coordination visits with the general contractor and suppliers.
The Garey Play Ranch successfully opened to the public the beginning of summer 2018 and has become a prime destination park for Georgetown residents and surrounding communities. Due to the park's popularity, specifically the Play Ranch, the city recently added an additional group pavilion.

Visitors have raved about Garey Park's unique amenities and expert design that blends into the natural environment.

"This park is beautiful, the playground is huge and the splash pad is a blast," noted parkgoer Macaela Perez via Google Reviews.

Team List
Design Firm:
Halff Associates, Inc. - Austin, Texas office
Project Manager: Brian Binkowski, PLA, Senior Landscape Architect
Deputy Project Manager: Aaron Cooper, PLA, LI

Scope of Work: Master plan through construction phase services.
Owner/Contacts:
City of Georgetown, Parks and Recreation Department
Kimberly Garrett, Director of Parks & Recreation
(512) 930-3542
kimberly.garrett@georgetown.org
Eric Nuner, Assistant Director Parks & Recreation
(512) 930-3525
eric.nuner@georgetown.org

Companies/Consultants Involved in Design/Implementation:
Total Recreation Products, Cypress, Texas (GameTime rep./installation)
The PlayWell Group, Boerne, Texas (Icon Shelter Systems rep./installation)
Vortex Aquatic Structures International, Inc., Dover, Delaware (Splash pad rep./ installation)
Southwest Monument and Sign, Cedar Park, Texas (Signage and masonry)

Products and Manufacturers:
GameTime (play equipment and surfacing)
Icon Shelter Systems (pavilions)
Vortex (splash pad equipment and features)
Pilot Rock (site furnishings)