Renovating South Tucson Park
One of my courses was for rainwater harvesting and environmental sustainability. The class was invited to South Tucson for a chance to fix up a couple of the cities problem areas. To make them inviting for the residents and also for visitors. The places we could choose from were three parks spread throughout the town and and the city hall.
After I toured the places that were offered, I choose a park. The picture below shows a great space for a renovation. During my investigation into the area, I learned the direction the wind normally takes. This was useful in figuring how a gust would affect the space. Because there are three sides that are closed off with a block wall and the remaining side is metal bars. I was worried there might be a whirlwind stuck inside. The park sits higher than the street so there would be no runoff collecting there. The property itself would hold the fallen water inside. There aren't many places for infiltration to occur except for the 'pit' which is discussed in the presentation.
I used Sketch-Up in creating the new and sustainable ramada. I used the line, shapes, push-pull, offset, move, rotate, scale, measure, and follow me commands. I had an interesting time putting the gutters on and connecting the drain pipes between the gutters and the tanks.