Civic Space Park is an urban park in

Downtown Phoenix Downtown Phoenix is the central business district (CBD) of the City of Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is located in the heart of the Phoenix metropolitan area or Valley of the Sun. Phoenix, being the county seat of Maricopa County, Ari ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

which first opened to the public in April 2009. It is located directly across Central Avenue from the main part of the ASU Downtown Campus. It is also located north of the

Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

METRO Light Rail and bus transfer stations.

History

The land the park is located on was a combination of old buildings and parking lots before the City of Phoenix began buying the properties. The main building renovated in the project is called the A.E. England Building. Originally opened in the 1920s as a car dealership, it now houses retail space and a community meeting room for special events. In the outdoor spaces, the majority of the park (over 70%) will be shaded, once all the trees have fully matured, through a combination of trees and shade structures.

Solar panels A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a phot ...

covering the tops of the shade canopies produce a combined 75

kilowatts The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

of power. The centerpiece of the park is the US$2.4 million sculpture by

Janet Echelman Janet Echelman (born March 19, 1966) is an American sculptor and fiber artist. Her sculptures have been displayed as public art, often as site-specific installations. Works include: ''1.26'', which has been exhibited on five continents; ''Her ...

called ''

Her Secret Is Patience ''Her Secret Is Patience'' is a public art sculpture commission designed by artist Janet Echelman for the city of Phoenix. Its creation was the result of collaboration between the artist and a team of award-winning engineers, architects, planners, ...

''. It consists of multicolored fiber nets suspended up to in the air. At night ground-mounted colored lighting changes throughout the season and gives a different appearance to the daytime look. It was questionable whether or not the piece would be built as the leaders at the City of Phoenix changed their minds several times whether or not to build the art piece. In 2011 the park won the

Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) was established in 1986 by Cambridge, Massachusetts architect Simeon Bruner. The award is named after Simeon Bruner's late father, Rudy Bruner, founder of the Bruner Foundation. According to the Bru ...

silver medal.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Park Website
Urban public parks Parks in Arizona Parks in Phoenix, Arizona 2009 establishments in Arizona