On Thursday, April 28, Dr. Chingwen Cheng, an Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at The Design School of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts and Senior Sustainability Scientist at the School of Sustainability at ASU, will lead a final review regarding ASU’s School of Sustainability’s plans to recover the Gila River area west of Kearny.
Several presenters and reviewers will take part, starting at 10 a.m. and ending at 4 p.m., minus the noon lunch break.
This is part of a series of meetings on a topic near and dear to the heart of locals, which started with a meeting at the General Kearny Inn on Jan. 20, when the Winkelman Resource Conservation District (WNRCD) and Bill Dunn spearheaded the discussion of the Kearny River Fire Recovery Project, which addresses the issues facing the Kearny area after both the Kearny River Fire and the Shipman Fire.
As it was pointed out, from the beginning, before funding can be asked for to alleviate the challenges faced, a plan needs to be in place. For the best plan to be in place, community interest and input is called for. Part of that community involvement came in the form of 14 Senior Design students from Arizona State University (ASU). At this first meeting, the afternoon was much given over to appraising these students, as fully as possible, of the needs of the community as well as the needs of the wildlife, vandalism prevention, the lay of the land in general and an exhaustive host of related subjects.
On Feb. 24, Dr. Cheng and the ASU students returned to Kearny to present their preliminary assessment of the site and to receive further input from the community as to design elements. This was followed by a March 30 meeting to present the preliminary designs.
To attend the final review of the proposed design come to the Design School at ASU, 810 S Forest Mall in Tempe. The time is from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. with a noon lunch break. There will be be parking in the ASU Visitor parking lot, off S. Myrtle Ave., at the rate of $1.50 per 2 hours, maximum, and in the Tempe Public Parking, off S. Forest Ave, at the rate of $2 per hour with a $10 maximum.
Enter the Design School North building, then take the elevator on the left or the stairs to the second floor. Cross the bridge to the South building. Room 226 will be on your right hand side.
For more information contact Chingwen Cheng at 480-452-6705 or Chingwen.Cheng@asu.edu. To learn more about the Winkelman Natural Resource Conservation District and possibly join them as a local “cooperator” go online to: http://wnrcd.org/