On the Boards: Sunflower Park

Our initial concept for Phase One of Sunflower Park:  Visitors enter the park through a monumental gateway directly accessing the parking lot, which will be shared with a future Community Resource Center. Crushed granite trails meander through the park, allowing patrons to either access park amenities or use them as a part of their fitness workout.  The trails will change grades, providing a moderate challenge to a fitness program, yet complying with state and national accessibility standards.  An existing berm on three sides of the park perimeter will be set five feet above grade, with all-weather surface to provide an option for those wishing for a more challenging workout.  

A children's playground has been placed in a central location, for convenience and for supervision.  A Wilderness Hideout Challenger System, which is a nature-themed playground features wood components, a Climber and Tree Toppers; a Challenger System that features two slides, the Horizontal Loop Ladder for upper-body fitness, and a Transfer Station for wheelchair accessibility.

Sunflower Park & Community Resource Center

July 27, 2013 Article by Jared Janes in The Monitor newspaper. Photos by MGa

Hidalgo County Pct. 4 Commissioner Joseph Palacios, center, speaks to the media prior to the ground breaking ceremony for the Sunflower Park Friday July 26, 2013 in San Carlos. The park will provide outdoor play areas and recreational activities for residents of the area.

Rain complicates conditions at the chronically-cramped San Carlos community resource center. When the skies open up, the volunteers who manage its summer program for children must find ways to make the center work with no outdoor options. They divide its available indoor space with curtains and siphon kids off by activity, or they find ways to entertain and educate them as a whole group.

But in a program that already has to turn kids away because of the limitations at the community resource center, those space-saver solutions aren’t the ideal fix, said Veronica Sanchez, a volunteer at the center whose two children are regular attendees. “There’s a lot of parents asking to put (their children) in the program,” she said. “If we could have more space, we would be better off.” They’ll get it now thanks to an expansion of county services in the San Carlos area.

Hidalgo County Precinct 4 broke ground Friday on Sunflower Park, one of two new parks planned for the precinct this year that will expand existing acreage by 400 percent. Located at the intersection of Highway 107 and Sunflower Road, the new park will provide outdoor play space and recreational activities for residents and families in San Carlos. Planned amenities for the park include a pavilion with basketball courts, playground equipment, walking trails and a soccer and baseball field. The park is just the first phase of a series of improvements planned for the area. Precinct 4 will also break ground later this summer on a new community resource center to replace the existing, outdated one that hosts community events for children and their parents.

Hidalgo County Pct. 4 Commissioner Joseph Palacios, center left, and Ernesto Narvaiz, center right, toss dirt during the ground breaking ceremony for the Sunflower Park in San Carlos. The park will provide outdoor play and recreational activities for residents in the  area.

Precinct 4 Commissioner Joseph Palacios said the new park and community resource center are needed improvements for San Carlos, a rural community with about 6,000 residents, making it larger than some of the county’s cities. Palacios said the county is currently under-serving its youth in San Carlos because it can only take in about 35 percent of those who sign up for its summer program. In an impoverished community where many families lack Internet access or even a computer, the community resource center fulfills a fundamental need for San Carlos.

“It’s not just improving the quality of life,” Palacios said, adding that the space will fulfill the needs for now and the immediate future. “It pretty much will be the flagship for their community, the place where they go and take pride in.”

Rendering of the three phases of Sunflower Park. Phase I is in the lower right-hand corner.

Construction costs for the park’s first phase are estimated at $500,000, but the total cost over three phases will be about $1.1 million. The San Carlos community resource center will cost about $1.2 million. Precinct 4 is covering the initial $500,000 cost for the park’s first phase, while funding from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development is slated for the rest.

Once both are completed, it will vastly improve the quality of services in San Carlos, said Alicia Rodriguez, the San Carlos community director for Precinct 4. In addition to the children’s summer program funded entirely by churches and charities and handled by parent volunteers, the community resource center hosts educational courses — helping residents get their GED diploma or learn English — and other special events in San Carlos.

East/Courtyard Elevation * Community Resource Center

North/Courtyard Elevation * Community Resource Center

South Elevation from Hwy. 107 * Community Resource Center

The park will also add a recreational venue for a community that previously lacked those options. “It’s a blessing,” Rodriguez said. “This is going to be a place that will improve our community.”

Town Hall * Hidalgo County Pct. 4 Projects

Newspaper Article Published Friday, June 28, 2013 by: Jared Janes | The Monitor

Hidalgo County Precinct 4 will expand parks and roads, work on economic development and partner with other governments to save money, Commissioner Joseph Palacios said Thursday as he laid out ongoing projects and future plans for his precinct. The precinct is expanding 10th Street through to Monte Cristo, adding 80 acres of new park space (designed by Mata+Garcia Architects LLP) and starting work on drainage improvements funded by last year’s bond referendum, Palacios said at the first of a series of town hall meetings. But Palacios said the traditional role of a county commissioner is evolving to encompass increasingly complex issues: economic development and health care. 

Joseph Palacios, Hidalgo County Pct. 4 Commissioner addresses constituents at a town hall meeting Thursday, 

held at the City of Edinburg Commission Chambers, to lay-out ongoing precinct projects and discuss future plans.

“As we grow, there’s going to be a great demand for every experienced people who are out there committed to learn and figure out how to solve the problems of today and tomorrow,” Palacios said. “It’s not just paving streets and maintaining roads; the evolution of the role of a commissioner has to be rooted in a comprehensive experience in everything.”

Palacios hosted the town hall meeting Thursday to share upcoming projects and plans for the precinct, including parks, drainage, public safety, new facilities and road construction. Palacios also announced his intent to seek a second term as Precinct 4 commissioner when the seat is on the ballot again next year.  He secured an endorsement from his prior opponent and former Commissioner Oscar Garza, who introduced Palacios at Thursday’s town hall.

Palacios told constituents that one of the precinct’s priorities is completing drainage projects funded in last year’s $184 million drainage referendum. In Edinburg and McAllen, the precinct’s home base, the drainage referendum will fund eight major projects designed to add additional capacity to existing drainage ditches through a system of pumps and gates. By using in-house construction and engineering crews, Precinct 4 also saved an estimated $2 million off about $7 million in previously funded drainage work, Palacios said. The precinct has also worked with the Texas Department of Transportation to leverage local resources with state dollars to reduce traffic congestion and improve highway safety.

Rendering of the proposed Emergency Services Facility for the San Manuel / Linn area in northern Hidalgo County. The $1.3 million facility will house the local fire department and be a satellite office for county and state law enforcement agencies. Mata+Garcia Architects LLP was selected as architect for the project; consultants include Chanin Engineering (Structural),  Sigma HN Inc. (Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing) and LeFevre Engineering (Civil).

Precinct 4 is working with TxDOT to reconstruct and widen 10th Street from University Drive to Monte Cristo. The $13.7 million project is being funded with only about $3.3 million in county funds. The county also kicked in about $1.2 million on a $13.2 million partnership between TxDOT, McAllen and the Hidalgo County Metropolitan Planning Organization to develop Ware Road from Mile 3 North to Mile 5 North.

Phase One of the proposed Sunflower Park, at the corner of Hwy. 107 and Sunflower Road in San Carlos, Texas. The park was designed by Mata+Garcia Architects LLP, CLH Engineering (Structural), Prodigy CM (MEP) and LeFevre Engineering (Civil). The park includes a pavilion, walking trails, playground, picnic shelters and support facilities.

But Palacios said he was proudest of the precinct’s efforts to improve quality of life in its neighborhoods. This spring, the precinct will begin work on parks in the Linn-San Manuel and San Carlos areas that provide recreation and amenities to rural residents that are generally reserved for cities, Palacios said. With only one other park in the precinct, the 80 new acres will expand existing acreage by 400 percent.

Rendering of the Sunflower Park Master Plan - designed by Mata+Garcia Architects LLP.

The precinct is also building a $1.2 million community resource center in San Carlos (designed by Mata+Garcia Architects LLP) — replacing one outgrown by the community of about 6,000 people — and plans to construct a multi-purpose facility for emergency services in Linn-San Manuel (designed by Mata+Garcia Architects LLP) that will serve as a home for its volunteer fire department and law enforcement agencies. Palacios said his office built its list of planned projects around the comprehensive needs of its residents. “We’ve got growing pains and needs,” Palacios said. “It’s never going to be done. Our job never ends.”

 East Elevation of the proposed San Carlos Community Resource Center and designed by Mata+Garcia Architects LLP, Chanin Engineering (Structural) Sigma HN Inc. (Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing) and LeFevre Engineering (Civil).

We Cherish This Building!

Detail of D'Hannis Brick Patterns at North Elementary Entrance

Article by JULIE SILVA in the Mid-Valley Town Crier Newspaper Regarding a Mata+Garcia Architects Elementary School Project in Mercedes, Texas. 

MERCEDES — Mercedes ISD trustees got a look at construction progress in the expansion of North Elementary at a workshop last week.

"We cherish this building," Mercedes Independent School District Superintendent Daniel Treviño said. "It's our newest building, serving first through fifth grades."  A construction crew is building six additional classrooms and Treviño hopes to turn North Elementary into a middle school that serves sixth through eighth grades in 2014. The gym will be turned into a band hall and a new gym will be constructed, he said.

Also Monday, trustees recognized a plaque mounted at the school four years after it was constructed. The plaque, which lists the names of the school board and superintendent on board during the school's construction, first was commissioned in 2009 when the school opened, but it was lost in changes in staffing over the years and only recently resurfaced.

Former Superintendent Walter Watson, who headed the district at the time, was invited to the event as an honored guest. Retired from the district, Watson said he's found himself working with children again, but he still misses Mercedes ISD

5.5 Ways To Turn Your Classroom "GREEN"

As architects, we often get asked by the teachers of the schools we design for help in taking positive steps to save our planet. We enjoy showing how easy it is to do so! Here’s a simple list of items both teachers and students can use to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

1. Recycle:  Place paper and plastic recycling boxes in your classroom and promote their use. Students take turns being the recycling monitor, taking responsibility for demonstrating and knowing what is recyclable and what is not. Teachers can minimize the amount of paper used in classrooms, without compromising educational objectives, by going paperless. Writing assignments and testing on computers, posting information on the school website and the use of email, all help limit the use of paper.

2. Plant a Tree: Turn your school grounds into a park! On many of our projects, landscaping is usually left out or deleted from the project scope. The client’s point-of-view being that the school PTA will provide the landscaping. This rarely happens! In a school with 750 kids, the classrooms number about thirty-four. A $250 two-inch caliper tree or shrub, when divided by 22 students per classroom, equals a cost of $11.36 per child per semester (63 cents per week). If a school does this twice a year it would amount to sixty-eight trees and shrubs per year. Trees lower the surrounding temperature, filter air, remove carbon dioxide and provide shade and beauty.  What an impact this would make. There will be plenty of trees to hug on Earth Day!

3. Flip the Switch: Every time you leave your classroom empty, turn-off the lights. While we install motion sensors to activate lights when needed in all of our projects, not all schools have them. Turning off classroom lights cuts carbon emissions by reducing electrical use.

4. Edu-Garden: With a school-wide effort, plan and place the "edu-garden" adjacent to the school cafeteria. You can grow vegetables, for use in school meals, or flowers, for display in administration and library areas. The students are able to taste and see what they grow. An additional step is to take classroom and cafeteria water used in assignments or cooking and using it to water the plants.

5. Let the Daylight In: It never fails! During programming sessions, teachers always ask that their classrooms have plenty of windows; once they occupy the space the windows are covered with construction paper, blinds or curtains. We go to great lengths to ensure that only daylight, and not direct sunlight, enters the classrooms. While there will be times when a teacher needs to control the view, there are plenty of teaching moments that can occur by keeping the blinds open – changes in weather, birds building nests, the movement of wind through tree and shrubs, etc. In addition, studies have shown that an aggressive daylighting program can reduce electrical loads by up to 30 percent, increase student performance by 20 % and reduce absenteeism by 50 %.  
5.5 Power Down: Classrooms are empty three periods a day; conference period, lunch period and planning period.  Though teachers my place classroom computers on shut-down mode, they still pull electricity. It is best to completely shut down computers, chargers and printers,   and un-plug them from the walls during these periods and after school hours as well.

Hector Rene Garcia, Architect / Partner - Mata+Garcia Architects LLP

Throw-back Thursday: North Elementary

Detail of Gymnasium Graphics

Throw-back Thursday: Perez Elementary Library

While in Brownsville the other day, I drove past two projects that we designed for the Brownsville Independent School District four years ago. It was good to see that the school maintenance staff has done an excellent job of maintaining the facility as well as the grounds.

General Contractor Selected!

The parish of San Cristobal Magallanes y companeros Catholic Church has selected the general contracting firm of Highmark Construction Co. to build their new parish hall (phase one of the master plan). The facility will be built at the corner of Military Highway and Santa Ingracia Street in the Sharyland Plantation development. We at Mata Garcia Architects look forward to working with the parish building committee and Highmark to make this long awaited dream a reality. Congratulations to everyone!

Truan Gym Renovation Update

View of the gym interior - May 2012. The ceiling wrap for the insulation was torn, metal wall panels were missing and daylight visible, windows leaked and the floor was warped.

The renovation work is nearing completion - March 2013. The gym interior includes new wall surfaces, graphics, lighting, a/c system, flooring and bleachers. The general contractor, Foremost Construction, is scheduled to turn the facility over to the Edcouch-Elsa ISD at their April 2013 Board of Trustees meeting.

Crit at University of Texas at Brownsville

MG'ers Christopher R. Collins, AIA and Hector Rene Garcia, Architect/Partner took part in a jury review of an infill project on South 17th in McAllen. The five week project was conducted by instructor Erick Darbo Diaz. Congratualtions to all!

Our Lady Of Guadalupe: Keeping History Intact

Article featured in The Monitor newspaper on February 11, 2013 regarding Mata-Garcia Architects renovation of Our Lady Of Guadalupe Catholic Church project. Photos and renderings by MGa.

MISSION – Drivers heading down Mission’s main drag in the last few weeks may have missed a familiar landmark looming above.

Workers took down the dome that adorns the top of one the area’s oldest churches near Conway Avenue as a part of the more than $2.5 million project to repair and expand the 86-year-old Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. Crews removed the three ton dome with a large crane as students from the church’s Catholic school watched in awe about two weeks ago, said Father Roy Snipes, the pastor of the congregation.

The old wooden dome had termites, dry rot and other structural issues that could have caused it to collapse during strong winds, Snipes said. Without a reason to examine it, church leaders had no idea the dome was in such bad shape.

“It’s a real blessing (we decided to expand),” Snipes said. “There were a lot of things in the church that needed repair we didn't know about.”

The decision to expand came about after the ornate brick church with many stained glass windows could not support the growing population. The parish currently hosts eight weekend masses with between 500 to 600 people attending each one.

“We have a lot of new parishioners, from the old timers to the new ones,” said church member Arturo Guerra, who was baptized in the church when it first opened and has been a faithful member since. “At one time I used to know everybody, now I don’t know most of them. They’re all new.”

With the expansion the church will be about double the size and able to accommodate up to 1,000 people while keeping many of the same features.

The first Our Lady of Guadalupe was built in 1899 as a daughter church to the La Lomita mission, Snipes said. The wooden Our Lady of Guadalupe burnt down and the brick one was built. The famous black and white Calvary of Christ picture featuring priests belonging to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate on horseback was taken in 1911 on the Our Lady of Guadalupe lot.

“It’s just been a different process to try to marry a new building to a historic building,” said George Noser, the owner of Noser Construction, which is completing the project.

The process involved researching to find the exact same tile to be laid on the new floors, finding very similar brick, expanding the altar and adding stained glass windows that depict the beginnings of the Catholic Church in Texas. It also means replacing the wooden dome with one made of durable fiberglass. The church will have new restrooms, replacing the one toilet that was only added about 20 years ago.

Snipes said the architect visited Austin to get recommendations from the Texas Historical Commission on how to add on to the church and keep its historical integrity intact.

In the end, the small details that keep the church the same and the big repairs have added up. Initially the congregation planned to spend about $2 million, which is what had been saved up, but then they had to borrow additional money from the Diocese of Brownsville.

“I think everyone is going to be real happy and we’re going to be real broke,” said Snipes as he toured the construction site with Noser and two of his many rescued dogs.

The goal is to be finished by Mother’s Day, about a year after the project began, but Snipes said he would be happy with Father’s Day or even later in the summer as well. He noted that some brides are eager for the project to finish so they can have weddings in the church.

Our Lady of Guadalupe has seen “hundreds and thousands of baptisms and weddings” and Snipes wants to keep those traditions alive for many years to come.  

“The ideal is when you drive up and walk in you will see what you always saw, it will just be roomier,” Snipes said.

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Gail Burkhardt covers Mission, western Hidalgo County, Starr County and general assignments for The Monitor . 

de la Fuente Elementary School

Entry corridor with our interpretation of an "Escher" style floor pattern.

San Cristobal Magallanes y Companeros Parish Hall

Construction Documents have been completed and the project is set to go out to general contractor's this week. The Parish Hall is Phase One for the San Cristobal Magallanes y Companeros Catholic Church. The contemporary design incorporates details from the nearby St. Peter's Novitiate, built in 1908 by the Missionary Oblates. The 500 seat hall will serve as the parish church until the main church is built during Phase Two. In addition the facility will have support areas such as, the parish office, kitchen and concession area, restrooms and mechanical/utility areas.

Vanguard Academy - Update

The foundation has been poured for this 32,000 sq. ft. elementary school. The general contractor, OG Construction, now proceeds with the erection of the walls. This is a first for our firm in that it is an all wood-frame school. Completion Date schedule for May 19, 2013.

Giving Back to Our Communities

Please join our MGer's and renew your spirit of service and citizenship -- we're calling on all Valleyites - including you, to volunteer in your community on Saturday, January 19th, for this year's Day of Service. We will be active in the communities of Weslaco, Donna, San Juan, McAllen and Harlingen. Giving back, it's the right thing to do.

Mental Rest & Relaxation

Join our MG'ers for some mental R&R tonight in downtown Weslaco. Local favorites the Bongodogs will be the headliner's at Alfresco Weslaco. We will be there early to get our front row seats; join us! 

Truan Gym Update

The wood flooring was intalled this past week as the gym nears completion.