San Rafael High School Stadium / Carducci Associates Gives New Life to Marin's 80-Year-Old-Field

What began in 2008 with an anonymous donation has come to full realization in 2017: the renovation of Marin’s oldest playing field. Miller Field was constructed during the 1930s and has been improved over decades; today, it is the county’s only playing field with sports lighting. Yet the site endured persistent challenges due to resource-intensive natural turf maintenance, a lack of universal accessibility, and neighborhood sound and light pollution.

Carducci Associates led the renovation of Miller Field to resolve these issues by introducing cutting-edge athletic facility design that also serves the community as grounds for physical education, graduation, fairs, training, and performances. Additions and upgrades include: a new all-weather, 9-lane track for 3-way track meets, a synthetic turf field (comprised of a natural cork infill and a pad for player safety and drainage), a new home team grandstand, scoreboard, and visitor’s bleachers, an energy efficient, state-of-the-art LED stadium lighting and sound system, and new restrooms, concession stand, parking, and stadium entry plaza. The San Rafael City Schools Bond Program shares photos and information about the projects current status.

Many stakeholders have been involved in the eight-year process. More than two-thirds of voters approved Measure B, a $161 million bond to be spent on San Rafael City Schools. The first Measure B project is the renovation of the San Rafael High School Stadium. Parent volunteers, neighbors, athletic team boosters, teachers, district staff, coaches, and the Principal and the Athletic Director, have all contributed time, insight and fundraising to the project’s success. In our office, the project is known for its league of contributors: Principals Bill Fee and Vince Lattanzio, Senior Associates Alvin Tang and Tim Skinner, and associates Lee Streitz, Philip Dinh, Karly Behncke, Jihwan Kim and Joel Franceschi.

Synthetic turf offers a safe and level playing field, extension of the seasonal use of the field, savings in water use and maintenance costs, and elimination of noise and air pollution associated with mechanical mowers. Removing the need for chemical fertilizer and pesticide application, the high school’s neighboring San Rafael Creek and the greater San Francisco Bay will benefit from a reduction in water pollution. In collaboration with Van Pelt Construction Services and Robert A. Bothman managing the construction process, the stadium is scheduled to open in Spring 2018—ready for the community and fans of the San Rafael Bulldogs to gather for traditional Friday Night Lights football games.

San Francisco’s First Bay-Friendly Rated Park, Designed by Carducci Associates / A Visit to the McLaren Rain Garden

Bay-Friendly Landscaping practices and design have been a consistent feature in Alameda County cities, and the movement championed by ReScape California is expanding state-wide. San Francisco Rec and Park adopted Bay-Friendly practices in 2014, and Carducci Associates is proud to announce that we were selected as Bay-Friendly designers for the team producing the first Bay-Friendly Rated SF Parks project!

McLaren Rain Garden is a series of terraces at the eastern edge of this large City park. The rain garden intercepts street and landscape water that formerly flooded city streets. Planting is 100% native, pollinator-friendly, and uses grey water harvested from within the park for irrigation. Abundant native flowering plants support the City’s new directive as a pollinator city.

Associate Principal Wesley Bexton designed the rain garden following the Bay-Friendly documentation process. Having participated in the requisite training, Carducci Associates has two additional Bay-Friendly Qualified Professionals (BFQPs), Senior Associate Alvin Tang and Associate George Chacon (bios here), with specific training in the unique regional aspects of landscape design, construction and maintenance in the Bay Area.

Novato Council to Review Hill Road Recreation Plan

The suggested first phase of work includes four pickleball courts, expanded parking with a lot along Hill Road and a synthetic turf field with spectator seating. All components would be accessible to the disabled.

The plan also calls for a half-mile lighted path.

Additional project phases would include the installation of bocce courts, playground equipment, a second synthetic turf field and more parking.

All fields would be multi-use and open for soccer, lacrosse, baseball and other recreational activities, said Vincent Lattanzio, principal and president of Carducci and Associates, of San Francisco.

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With added synthetic turf, the proposal would reduce maintenance costs, officials said. It would also allow for recreational use of fields during winter months, when the city’s natural fields are typically closed to the public, [Novato Park and Recreation Director Pam] Shinault said.

“With synthetic turf, you expand use for three additional months in the winter,” she said. “You can use them when they’re raining. We close natural turf area for three months in the winter. We do that so the fields are not damaged in rain and the grass has a chance to rejuvenate.”

The full article, by Stephanie Weldy of the Marin Independent Journal, posted the article on March 26, 2017, here.

Rosa Parks School Students Welcomed Back With New Play Yard

Nothing makes us happier than seeing kids show up for a new school year, and running with glee to Carducci Associates designed school yard improvements! Check out the new features at Rosa Parks School in Berkeley on school’s Facebook page, here. Associate Principal Wesley Bexton and Associate Karly Behncke (bios here) worked closely with a dedicated group of school staff, parents, and community members on this fast-paced project that incorporated a democratized, community committee and student data-driven design process, DSA submittal, approval, and construction, all in under nine months!

To quote the school principal:

“The Kids LOVE the new stuff, so do the parents and staff, WELL DONE and Thank you!”