Community Building

Speaking as a builder, if you start something, you must have a vision of the thing which arises from your instinct about preserving and enhancing what is there - Christopher Alexander To be a carpenter or a builder or a home inspector, you have to have that kind of visual brain where you can sort of imagine something taken apart - Nick Petrie Look at kids playing with blocks. I think it's in everyone's DNA to want to be a builder - Dan Phillips You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality - Walt Disney Good buildings come from good people, and all problems are solved by good design. - Stephen Gardiner Either a building is part of a place or it is not. Once that kinship is there, time will only make it stronger - Willa Cather A doctor can bury his mistakes but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines - Frank Lloyd Wright We shape our buildings: thereafter, they shape us - Winston Churchill And a

One of two memorial benches installed in Boulder City NV as a tribute to a student who passed away after a battle with leukemia. The message reads: "Smile More & Laugh Often.

Sometimes an entire community will pull together to create something awesome and this occurred recently in Boulder City, NV, when students came together to install memorial benches to honor one of their fallen friends.

According to teacher Azure Quinlan, one of her former students, Michael Manteris, was a very popular youngster in town who unfortunately was stricken by leukemia.

"He was well known in the community and was always kind, thoughtful and determined to succeed," she said. "When he passed away I wanted to do something special for his family and the community who loved him and prayed for him throughout his fight."

Azure thought a memorial bench might be an appropriate way to honor Michael. She said that when her mother passed away, she and her siblings purchased a memorial bench to honor her.

So she decided

rotary club

The Bar Harbor Rotary Club in Maine donated recycled plastic benches and other outdoor furnishings to a local playground. Community projects such as these provide a highly visible example of the great contributions groups like this make to their communities

If your charitable organization wants to make a major impact on the community, just take a look at your local playgrounds and see if they need improvements.

That's what the Bar Harbor Rotary Club did recently in Maine when the group pulled up its sleeves, raised money, gathered volunteers and gave the Park Street Playground a much-needed facelift.

"It took many corporate sponsors, many more private donors and an army of volunteers and we are proud to now have an amazing space for our children to grow, learn and play," said organizer Jenna Horton.

The project to revise the playground was originally initiated by a local mom in 2011 but funds were slow in coming in.

So the Rotary Club decided to take on the project. Jenna

 

Some couples are choosing to get engaged in the aluminum bleachers at a baseball game for a proposal that hits it out of the park

Aluminum bleachers are more than just a spot to watch your favorite sports team take on the competition or to cheer on your little league superstar. These shiny metal seats for crowds of 10 or 10,000 are also a popular spot for couples to get engaged - or even tie the knot.

More than a few lovebirds and baseball fans have gotten engaged while watching a baseball game in one of the league's stadiums. Here are some of the most popular bleacher love stories circulating on the web.

Aluminum bleachers love story: The one (ring) that almost got away

Two major fans of major league baseball were about to get engaged at a Yankees game on a beautiful September evening. Seated in the left field stands, Andrew Fox, a 29-year-old New Yorker, dropped to one knee as the jumbotron zeroed in on the proposal-in-the-making.

Fox's girlfriend, Heather Terwilliger, looked shocked

Get outside and spend some time going for walks or relaxing on park benches. Researchers have documented several ways nature is good for your health

Can sitting outside on park benches make you healthier?

Can standing under a tree make you happier?

Can walking in the woods calm you down?

Are you looking to have more energy, less stress, better focus, and greater immunity paired with faster recovery times?

You may think it would take a miracle medicine to accomplish all of that in one setting.

But it turns out that there is a simple supplement that produces all of these benefits - spending time in nature.

Whether you live close to the ocean, mountains, or forests - or just a greenspace lined with park benches - you can tap into the power that nature has to restore and rejuvenate your health and energy.

Here are the facts on why nature is so good for your health and how some states and doctors are partnering together to fill park benches and improve access to state parks across the country.

Landfills are growing faster than expected and one solution is to add more recycling receptacles in public spaces to reduce trash

Everyone is looking for a simple solution to reduce the accumulation of waste, and recycling receptacles might be the easiest answer.

Reducing landfills is becoming a growing challenge for cities across the United States, as garbage dumps grow and environmental concerns mount for residents and city planners alike.

Municipalities must act. Waste is heading for the local dump at a pace faster than analysts predicted.

As a case in point, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that 122 million tons of waste would be deposited in landfills in 2012. However, studies revealed that 262 million tons of trash wound up in landfills - an increase of 115% over the EPA estimate.

Clearly, waste control should be a major priority for city planners and concerned residents alike. Incorporating recycling receptacles into public spaces is a major way that cities

Experts recommend that schools and other facilities have a plan to replace older bleachers with new and safer aluminum bleachers early before they become condemned or unusable

By Gerald Dlubala

Managers may want to consider creating a plan to upgrade to new aluminum bleachers because condemned or otherwise unusable bleacher seating can have major implications for a school or facility. Those issues can go beyond just providing a place to sit for upcoming games.

That type of negative designation for your bleachers can reflect on the facility management as well. Patrons may question the commitment to their safety, and whether the rest of the facility or venue is being cared for and managed properly.

Planned events will be moved, or in a worst-case scenario, canceled altogether.

Parents will be angry. Ticket sales and concession revenues that were counted on are now gone. Teams that call the venue home are required to play their season's home games, including annual homecoming games, at other

Picnic tables in the education area at the Tashjian Bee and Pollinator Discovery Center at the popular Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

Visitors to the Tashjian Bee and Pollinator Discovery Center will now be able to sit on new wooden picnic tables to learn about the vital role these little flying workers play in the world's ecology.

The world-renowned research center is part of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum at the University of Minnesota in Chaska, MN.

The arboretum covers 1,137 acres and offers an amazing display of gardens, trails and natural areas with 5,000 different species of plants. It is considered to be one of the premier horticultural field laboratories and public display areas in the world and was named Best Botanical Garden in the country by USA Today's Reader' Choice Awards.

The bee studies at the center are generating quite a bit of "buzz."

In case you didn't know, bees play an incredibly important role in creating our food supply. It is estimated that as pollinators, bees contribute

There are some very interesting facts surrounding the Fourth of July in the US

When families venture out this Fourth of July to gather at picnic tables in local parks, barbecue on grills and wait for the fireworks to start, consider these interesting and strange facts surrounding the Independence Day holiday.

The Second Continental Congress actually approved a resolution of independence from Great Britain on July 2, not the fourth. The first official Independence Day celebration took place in Philadelphia, on July 8. The signing of the Declaration of Independence started on July 4, 1776, but most historians believe it was actually completed a month later. The British didn't hear of America's declaration until Aug. 30. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were the only signers of the Declaration of Independence to later serve as presidents of the United States. They both died on the same day. That day was July 4, 1826. As Adams was dying, he apparently claimed that at least "Jefferson survives."

 

The "Fund Your Park" crowdfunding platform from NRPA makes it easier for groups to raise money for park improvements and furnishings

With advancements in fundraising technology, the ability for people to improve parks and other recreational facilities in their towns is now a whole lot easier.

That's because there is now a park fundraising program that not only helps them collect funds but shows them how to conduct a successful fundraising campaign.

"Fund Your Park" is a "crowdfunding" program offered by the National Recreation and Parks Association. The online platform can be a game changer when it comes to empowering people to improve their communities.

At first glance, the web-based service is similar to crowdfunding sites such as GoFundMe or Kickstarter.

NRPA's program allows participants to create their own web page to promote the project, upload photos, and videos and collect payments. When a person makes a donation, they automatically receive a receipt letting them know their donation

Concrete bollards protecting a sidewalk. Notice how the cement is painted the same color as the building, another option available with concrete bollards

By Gerald Dlubala

Bollards as protective devices have been used going back to the late 1700s, when the first ones were crafted using everything from heavy tree trunks to old, vertically planted cannon barrels to the modern concrete bollards used today.

As they have become more sophisticated, modernized, and more skillfully manufactured, concrete bollards are now more personalized and aesthetically appealing.

And even though bollards are used as barriers to keep pedestrians safe from vehicular traffic, they have become just as important in keeping motor vehicles out of specific areas of concern, whether enclosing pedestrian traffic or not.

The popularity of concrete bollards increased in the 1990s when they began to be the preferred choice for protecting campuses and other highly populated buildings.

Credit the world of vehicle-based terrorism

"Road diet" cities place more emphasis on pedestrians and bicycles than cars. Photo source: Sixthreezero.co

Whether you recognize it or not, wide, open roads psychologically trick you into driving a little faster and that is why cities are deciding to go on a "road diet."

Many roads in America are designed to accommodate a significant number of cars moving quickly, but sometimes the road is wider than is really necessary.

Downtown main streets are especially effected by this. As areas of high pedestrian activity, they are usually not accommodating to foot traffic or bicyclists, with high-speed roads and wide lanes taking up all of the space, leaving narrow sidewalks as an afterthought.

If drivers naturally feel like they need to increase their speed because the roads are wide, making it unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists, your town might need a road diet.

A what? You heard that right, a road diet. Just like a trendy food diet is focused on slimming your waistline, road diets emphasize

An outdoor stone altar with wooden benches at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Sebastopol, CA

The members of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Sebastopol, CA, wanted to create a special place outside their church where people of any faith would feel welcome to participate in everything from religious services and weddings, to concerts and poetry reading, sitting on wooden benches under a beautiful blue sky.

But what they created is no ordinary place. St. Stephen's Church succeeded in such a way that is sure to catch the attention of everybody in their community, along with spiritually minded people nationwide.

The stone structure they created is reminiscent of an ancient gathering place that you might find on a hillside in ancient Europe. The rocks were gathered from a nearby quarry by a local craftsman to build a striking blue-grey wall, to be draped with lush vegetation over the years, as a backdrop for viewers.

St. Stephen's Church stone and mosaic tile alta

In the middle of the wall

A couple lock their bikes to commercial bike racks near a facility. Developers can earn LEED credits for adding bicycle parking racks to their apartment or office buildings

Did you know that you can earn LEED credits for  providing commercial bike racks at your facility?

LEED is a highly recognized third-party verification program for green buildings—it stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Its innovations are changing the way people think about planning and constructing buildings. According to the U.S. Green Building Council, an incredible 1.85 million square feet of space is certified daily.

Property managers, homeowners, CEOs of businesses, and all kinds of people are interested in earning LEED credits with a goal of adding the credits up to a certification level: either Certified, Silver, Gold, or Platinum. LEED Certification at any level translates into great things for a business.

How Credits from Commercial Bike Racks Helps Your Business

1.

Attention Architects and Construction Project Managers: The Park and Facilities Catalog is a leading supplier of commercial bike racks, products for bike rooms, aluminum bleachers and hundreds of other durable and attractive outdoor furnishing products for facilities and schools. Go here to see our complete catalog of commercial site furnishings. We also supply spec sheets, CAD files and free layouts.