Tangerine Sky Community Park Grand Opening

Norris Design recently led a diverse professional team to provide planning and design services for the construction of a 12-acre community park located in the Town of Marana, Arizona. Tangerine Sky Community Park is located in a pristine Sonoran Desert location that offers views of the Catalinas, Tortolitas and Tucson Mountains. We began collaborating with the Town of Marana in 2015 and through various efforts of community engagement the Town broke ground on June 1.

Before the design development phase, there was a public participation process to allow the community to provide feedback on features and concepts for the park. Through questionnaires, surveys, and public meetings, participants were offered multiple lists of preferred amenities and a choice between two master plan concepts. Aside from the options provided, community members were also given the opportunity to write-in reasoning for choices, desires, and/or concerns.

With the community in mind, the final design approach focused on providing a place for neighbors to play, be active, and enjoy the outdoors. The park will provide ramadas for group gatherings, play areas for both older and younger children, a natural boulder climbing zone, dog park, basketball court, and a multi-use turf area. In an effort to preserve and salvage as much of the natural vegetation as possible, the park includes multi-use trails with both natural and paved walking.

Alongside our Norris Design team, the park design was a collaboration with Psomas (civil engineering), Recon (environmental), Monrad Engineering (electrical engineers), GLHN (architecture), and Ninyo & Moore (geotechnical services). After final revisions, the park amenities include all the following components:

• Ramadas
• Restroom facility
• Maintenance storage facility
• Multi-use turf field
• Large and small dog park section (fenced) with potable water dog fountain and shaded benches
• Basketball court
• Shaded Playgrounds
• Paved and natural perimeter looped walking path with connections to the adjacent neighbors and the trail along Tangerine Road
• Native plant preservation/re-vegetation/restoration
• Drinking fountain
• Benches (with shade)
• Picnic tables (with shade)
• Bicycle parking
• Trash receptacles
• Site lighting (dusk to dawn security lighting)
• Custom park signage
• Passive rainwater harvesting features

Tangerine Sky Community Park in the News

• Preliminary designs for new regional park revealed | Marana News — April 12, 2016
• New Marana park to be named “Tangerine Sky Community Park” | Town of Marana — May 10, 2016
• PRESS RELEASE: Tangerine Sky Park grand opening August 10 | Town of Marana — August 6, 2018
• Tangerine Sky Park celebrates its grand opening | Town of Marana — August 10, 2018