Imagine a big, shady park as the place where everything downtown is centered, a people-place like Washington Square in Manhattan, full of color and music and life.
I bet you have already dreamed of this.
Imagine solar panels on poles way up high over the park, providing shade, moving in response to the suns angle, and powering the special features of the park.
Imagine these two layers over the top of a state-of-the-art 100,000 square foot TEP office building built below grade and lit in part by landscaped light-wells.
Imagine: A beautiful indoor/outdoor demonstration room where alternative power education programs are offered for children and adults throughout the weekends, and by group-leaders and teachers requests during the week.
What a park! Can you see it?
The panels on tall stalks would mirror the tall Washingtonia Palms at the Tucson Children's Museum across the street.
That's how the park would look from a little distance. It could be the picture on all the travel brochures and magazine covers.
Inside the park, under the tall sun catchers, there might be ice cream carts (there's at least one guy in the barrio who pushes a little old-fashioned hand cart with bells down the street - he would be so perfect!) and street performers and musicians turning up; people sitting on benches, chatting, or sitting at picnic table with their lunch.
During the day, the solar array could power a fountain whose jets spring up from a tile floor that anyone -- and especially kids -- can play in, with fresh and clean water provided by the sky via a rain harvesting system.
Up-close, the up-shoots of any one jet seem unpredictable, but seen from the benches alongside, the jets form changing flower-like patterns of vertically rising and falling shafts of water. It is both beautiful and lots of fun for the kids and observers. This alone would draw people from all over the city to the park. (See below for a description of this fountain in West Palm Beach, FL.)
The solar array would be high enough that the absolutely charming historic streetscapes along 6th Avenue and Scott Avenue will be showcased, not obscured. As a downtown resident, I was very familiar with the neighborhood, and I was astounded to see today what the old hotel, now in rubble, had concealed!
The Barrio Food and Drink always looked well-kept from 6th Avenue, but now that we can see it from a bit of a distance, it is just magnificent, and the other historic building on that block is a jewel also! The streetscape on Scott Avenue deserves attention, too.
This park would be the centerpiece of Tucson, perhaps the symbol of our city as a leader in solar power and forward thinking.
Did you see the hole that was dug for the parking garage next to the Hotel Congress? It was at least 2 stories into the ground, and once the caliche was broken through, it was plain, old, easy-diggin dirt. Give this some thought!
There is energy efficiency in an underground installation, plus great space utilization: a huge office building below, a wonderful park on street level, and a solar demonstration project above. Spectacular!
I respectfully and publically urge TEP to consider using that block for the highest good of all concerned.
Without a fast adoption of alternative energy, millions on the planet may suffer for a long time. It is possible to make these changes fast, and TEP executives are in a very powerful position to get the job done now.
Plus, I am sure TEP would come out smelling like a rose internationally. This park and solar demonstration would be greatly appreciated by the people of Tucson and everyone who stands to benefit from solar powers immediate adoption. You know who that is it is all of us and our descendants, to the 7th generation.
Centennial Square, West Palm Beach, FL
The plaza includes benches, tables and chairs and an interactive fountain which is known for its visible beauty as well as its phenomenal popularity as a site for children's play. The park is just in front of the entrance to the city library and in the heart of downtown. There is street side parking as well as garage parking availability. This site was dedicated during the centennial celebration for the City of West Palm Beach.
