Over the past two years, parks and recreational spaces have seen some of the highest use rates in modern times. Their benefits in areas like physical wellness, aesthetic value and conservation haven’t changed, but public awareness of their impact on mental health and social equity is growing. The larger and more multi-purpose these projects become, the more their benefits extend to end-users of all ages and backgrounds—and the more challenging they are to build.
As a parks and rec contractor with both civil and commercial expertise, Sundt has built multiple award-winning projects. We’re also familiar with the intrinsic rewards this kind of work can bring; ask anyone who’s hosted a park or rec center’s grand opening. For employee-owners like Henry Espalin and Dan Green, their projects’ success began long, long before this point. It started with their ability to put themselves in another person’s shoes.
“I’ve Been on That Side of the Table”
It’s 6:00 a.m. and still dark outside when a line begins forming outside the natatorium at the newly finished Beast Urban Park, Phase 1 in East El Paso. “This place is wildly popular,” said Project Manager Henry Espalin. “And there’s such a wide range of ages using the pool—you’ve got young families, high school swim teams, seniors on aqua bikes.” For Henry, it’s special to see this project in its completed form. “There was just nothing like this here when I was growing up.”
Not only did Henry grow up on this side of town, where until recently public recreation options were limited, but he also worked as a construction manager for New Mexico State University before joining Sundt in 2016. “I’ve been on that side of the table, where you’re putting together a high-stakes public project, and your time and budget are limited. You need someone to break down your options so you can make the best decision,” he said.
Sundt’s transparency in preconstruction transferred over to the construction phrase, where Henry and his team helped the owner get ahead of potential issues. “Do most contractors explain their approach and build mockups? Yes. Do they take the time to show why certain options are better for value engineering? Or have a third party come out to inspect their mockup’s envelope and do water testing? In my experience, no. We vet everything, and we don’t recommend something if it doesn’t pass our standards.” The concrete tilt-up walls of the gymnasium (shown below), for example, were one area where the client opted for a different finish after seeing the mockup.
It’s details like these that we think about not only as builders but as neighbors who are now using this space. This facility is going to be around a long time, and we want it to remain the source of pride for the community that it is today.
– Enrique (Henry) Espalin, Project Manager
Because Someone Planted a Tree
Warren Buffet famously said, “Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone else planted a tree a long time ago,” as an analogy for investing. Superintendent Dan Green has planted thousands of literal trees in his career, and for him the landscape of a project—especially a park—should be seen as an investment of its own.
Before his current role with Sundt, Dan served as the Texas branch manager for seven years at AAA Landscape. As such, he oversaw the landscape and irrigation work of the ENR Best Project-winning San Pedro Creek Culture Park phase 1.1, as well as several other large-scale commercial and civil projects across the state.
“Having been on that side of things, I realize that landscaping on commercial projects is one of the last scopes and is often the most rushed,” said Dan. “The problem is that it’s also the most recognizable feature, the first impression on the client and the public.” Landscaping for parks is much more involved, but the same issues apply.
“By having more in-house experience in this area, we can give it the right level of attention,” said Dan. “We communicate better with our subcontractors on expectations, we can offer more value-engineering ideas, and we can resolve issues without relying solely on the landscape architect.”
Sundt also has a number of self-perform abilities that set parks and rec projects up for success, including grading, structural concrete, underground utilities, site civil and flood control. For projects like La Cantera and San Pedro Creek, performing these scopes ourselves has allowed us to better control schedule and quality. This in turn allows owners to activate new spaces as they’re finished, which lets the community use their new space sooner. From here, the park’s benefits flow outward to other stakeholders in the community.
With a project like San Pedro Creek Culture Park and the phased improvements we’re building now, you see the ripple effects across the community. We’re transforming a concrete ditch into this amazing linear park and natural habitat. That blank space has become a corridor where people and businesses want to be.
It all sank in for me when I was walking the Phase 1.1 portion of the creek after it opened. Right at sunset, there was this almost deafening croaking of hundreds of frogs that gave me pause. They weren’t here before this project. To bring people together at this intersection of culture and nature—for me, that’s why we do this.
-Dan Green, Parks and Landscape Superintendent
On a Sundt parks and rec project, success means having the highest positive impact on the community when our work is finished. It also means having the lowest environmental impact and least disruptive methods to get there. By seeing things from the point of view of project owners, trade partners and community members, we continue to find new ways to build better projects.