Coytemore Lea Park

Shadley Associates started working on Coytemore Lea Park in 2005 with the creation of a bid set for improvements and repairs to an existing totlot. Surrounded by a working community of mixed ethnicity, Coytemore Lea Park at one time received design work by Frederick Law Olmsted. Nothing remains of his work other than a beloved and well-used public open space.

Through a series of meetings with the City Councilor, the Redevelopment Authority, the DPW and members of the community, design alternatives led to the final Master Plan. The Plan included a refurbished and improved totlot, a new U-8 soccer field, the removal of a DCR swimming pool and the creation of a small parking area and overlook, and the creation of a Tai Chi garden for the large Asian community. In January of 2006, Shadley Associates bid the first phase of construction, the repair and expansion of the existing totlot ($65,000). In the summer of 2006, Shadley Associates led the design and construction of the second phase of work which included the creation of a U8 soccer field, an accessible route into the park, and a circular concrete pavement pad for the practice of Tai Chi ($110,500).

In the fall of 2007 Shadley Associates designed a new Tai Chi Garden at Coytemore Lea Park, which became the third construction phase. The garden is an expression of Feng Shui, the Taoist art and science of living in harmony with the environment. The garden’s specific location within the park is regularly used for practicing Tai Chi, which is the Chinese martial art for the balance of yin and yang. The site’s good “chi” is enhanced by the slopes rising to the north and west and by the openness to the southeast. The design emphasizes Yin on the northwest side of the garden which is traditionally represented by earth, shade, and stillness, and Yang on the southeast side of the garden which is traditionally represented by activity, sky, and light. Representation of the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water occupy their respective positions on the general Pa Tzu compass within the garden including a birch tree and quaking grasses to the southeast for wood and wind, a Japanese Maple tree that will turn a brilliant red in the fall to the south for fire, placed boulders to the northeast for earth, a shade pavilion to the northwest for metal, and a granite water basin to the north for water. This project phase was substantially complete in September of 2008, costing $156,650.