//Building Imagination

The first step in the Park Part­ners Pro­gram starts when the com­mu­nity expresses an inter­est in devel­op­ing a project in a park or park facil­ity. Next, the City then helps orga­nize a vol­un­teer labor group and, if needed, a fund-raising effort. The com­mu­nity will then install the project under super­vi­sion from City staff.  For more infor­ma­tion, click here.

Bold, bio-inspired, ver­ti­cal and sus­tain­able: those are the traits that archi­tec­ture of the future will share, if you go by the trends in cur­rent cutting-edge con­cept designs. While some of these archi­tec­tural con­cepts will never become real­ity, oth­ers are already in progress or slated to begin con­struc­tion soon. From a sparkling urban farm inspired by a dragonfly’s wing to a dystopian con­cept that embraces genetic engi­neer­ing, here are 12 amaz­ing designs that give us a peek into what the future may bring.

Loca­tion: South­west cor­ner of River Road and Hern­don Road

Cur­rent Improve­ments: While part of the TRRP, Mancini Park func­tions as a neigh­bor­hood park for res­i­dents to the south of the Tuolumne River who live in the imme­di­ate vicin­ity of the park. After review­ing the exist­ing park lay­out, the update will encom­pass revi­sions to the park site to include locat­ing the restroom and play areas closer to Hern­don Road, revis­ing the open turf and ball field areas, incor­po­rat­ing her­itage learn­ing areas into the park site and pro­vid­ing a tran­si­tion from native tree and shrub plant­i­ngs near the Tuolumne River influ­ence to the devel­oped park.

Sched­ule: Design update began March 2008, pub­lic meet­ings were held in August 2008 with approval of the final design and mas­ter plan update sched­uled for 2009. For more infor­ma­tion, call (209) 571‑5573 or e-mail lholt@modestogov.com.

The Tuolumne River Regional Park (TRRP) con­sists of over five-hundred acres of park­land that runs along seven river miles of the Tuolumne River from the Mitchell Street Bridge east to the Car­pen­ter Road Bridge in Stanis­laus County. Five major areas make up TRRP, includ­ing the Legion Park/Airport Area, the Gate­way Par­cel, Mancini Park, the Dry­den Park Golf Course Area and the Car­pen­ter Road Area. These areas include devel­oped park sites in Legion Park and a ripar­ian habi­tat in the Gate­way Par­cel. The park is being built through a joint pow­ers agree­ment with the City of Modesto, City of Ceres and County of Stanis­laus. Click here for more infor­ma­tion (view the TRRP Gate­way Pre­cise Plan — Sum­mary Report or the Mas­ter Plan at the bot­tom of the Parks section).

As announced by Modesto City Beat and on Modestogov.com:

“A group of com­mu­nity mem­bers is set­ting out to improve the image of Modesto. As a part of that process, they want to bet­ter under­stand people’s per­cep­tions of the com­mu­nity and what the community’s per­ceived strengths and weak­nesses are. The sur­vey will be uti­lized by this group of com­mu­nity mem­bers, part­ner­ing with local busi­ness and pub­lic sec­tor lead­ers, to reshape the image and per­cep­tions of Modesto in the future. Click [here] to com­plete the short survey.”

This is a great oppor­tu­nity to have your voice heard and help shape the city you call home.

The City of Modesto’s Neigh­bor­hood Envi­ron­men­tal Action Team (N.E.A.T.) pro­gram is a fun, edu­ca­tional and worth­while oppor­tu­nity for you, your orga­ni­za­tion or your busi­ness to gain city-wide recog­ni­tion while help­ing save tax­payer dol­lars. You can help beau­tify our com­mu­nity by adopt­ing and car­ing for a N.E.A.T. area. For more infor­ma­tion, click here.