CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – The City of Charlottesville is pleased to announce the award of two design contracts for the implementation of the Master Plan for the east side of McIntire Park.The first, for the design and development of the skate park, has been awarded to Stantec Planning and Landscape Architecture of Boston, Massachusetts. With over 200 designs to their credit this group is uniquely positioned to bring the design expertise of recently acquired Action Sport Design to Stantec while benefiting from the global expertise of the parent company. Stantec is a skate park design only firm and is well known within the skating community for their flexibility and uniqueness in design. A sample of their work can be found at http://actionsportdesign.com/.

The second, for the design and development of the remainder of the east side of the park, including the Botanical Garden, has been awarded to Mahan Rykiel Associates of Baltimore, Maryland. Mahan Rykiel, along with the Timmons Group of Charlottesville, will be the primary team leading the design efforts. Mahan Rykiel brings tremendous expertise to planning and design efforts with a portfolio that includes Blandair and Druid Hill Parks in Maryland, the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C., the Cylburn Arboretum in Baltimore and the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in northern Virginia. A sample of their work can be found at www.mahanrykiel.com.

City Parks and Recreation staff, along with the Botanical Garden of the Piedmont, the Skate Park Advisory Board and the design teams will be working together to implement the vision outlined in the Master Plan. A number of community meetings will be held in the coming months and specific dates, times and locations will be forthcoming.