Penn Park is 24 acres of athletic fields, open recreational space, and pedestrian connections on the eastern edge of the University of Pennsylvania’s campus. The Park combines 14 acres of land Penn purchased in 2007 as well as 10 acres of University property near South Street. The Park has increased the University’s green space by 20 percent, and creates a new pedestrian gateway uniting West Philadelphia with Center City. The Park replaces a surface parking lot previously owned by the United States Postal Service.
“Transforming these 24 acres of abandoned lots and unused land into open, accessible, sustainable space connecting Penn with Center City will transform our beautiful campus and Philadelphia for generations to come,” said Penn President Amy Gutmann. “Penn Park marks the first time that the University has, by design, developed open space for the use of the Penn community and beyond.”
Penn Park was designed by landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates of Cambridge, Mass. and Brooklyn, NY. The Park’s athletic facilities include the James “Ace” Adams field and Dunning-Cohen Champions field, both multipurpose NCAA regulation athletic fields; a 470- seat multipurpose stadium that is also an NCAA regulation women’s softball field; and 12 tennis courts with 200-seat viewing stands.
Between these facilities are pathways, elevated bridge connections and open space for passive recreation, with 548 trees adorning the landscaped pathways for walking, biking and jogging. The asphalt pathways are edged with Permaloc’s patented asphalt restraint, AsphaltEdge.
Three playing fields utilize synthetic turf for varsity practices as well as club, intramural or recreational games. One will be covered with a seasonal air structure in winter to allow for athletics programming throughout the year. The multipurpose stadium can double for both softball or as an amphitheater for outdoor concerts and other events.
Straight lines do not occur naturally in the landscape. This is an ongoing challenge for the landscape professional faced with the task of installing and maintaining angular and rectilinear landscape designs. Often these designs are used in maintenance strips and walking paths, but also accentuate contemporary structures and formal gardens. For the landscape professional, this challenge extends beyond the installation and can become a long-term maintenance issue. For the designer and the property owner, the challenge is to select products that achieve the designer’s intent at installation and sustain it over time against damage from power maintenance equipment and the eroding forces of nature.
Often inter-locking pavers are used in these situations because they lend themselves to hard structural edges that can be easily maintained. When properly restrained, pavers provide a beautiful and long-lasting effect. It is when the landscape design introduces new materials that do not naturally create straight lines, that a challenge is created for the landscape contractor. These materials include stone, decomposed aggregate, mulch, asphalt and countless others. These materials are often utilized for natural walking paths, bikeways, drives and maintenance strips, as well as landscape forms.
The more common challenge of straight lines occurs in maintenance areas along buildings, fence lines and parking areas. These landscape features can consume valuable installation time and quickly detract from the overall look of the project if incorrect materials are used.
Using a traditional metal landscape edging that is designed to be flexible, maintaining these lines proves to be a painstaking effort. Permaloc, with its long-standing reputation as being the expert for edging and restraints, has developed and manufactures a product called PermaStrip. This is an aluminum landscape edging specifically designed for straight runs in the landscape. PermaStrip uses an L-shaped design that makes this product incredibly rigid, saving time during installation and insuring long-term performance. PermaStrip allows you to save money on labor, improve the quality and look of the project, and deliver on time, while the facility owner receives a product that will maintain the design intent for years to come.
Unique products like those manufactured by Permaloc can save time, money, and add to the overall quality of the project. When you encounter unique applications, there is often a supplier that manufactures a product specifically designed for that application. Don’t waste time and money trying to make a product work that wasn’t designed for your exact application. Use the internet, trade magazines, your local distributor, or word-of-mouth through your friends and contacts in the industry. Somewhere out there is a company making exactly the right product or tool for exactly what you are doing.
