UrbanTech will announce a major partnership to develop the Guadalupe-Parkway Sommerville Centers during a news conference at 12:15 p.m. Friday (Feb. 5) in the first floor lobby of the Texas Tech University Downtown Center, 1120 Main St.
The announcement will introduce a new playground and sports field expansion planned for the Guadalupe-Parkway Sommerville Centers, 405 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
UrbanTech also will host a public showing of the expansion plans during that evening’s First Friday Art Trail from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Downtown Center. It will focus on 10 areas to be developed at the facility, each with a budget that enables individuals to adopt the project for actualization.
The areas are:
- Fencing and gateways
- Glass garage doors from existing gymnasium to expanded outdoors areas
- New and relocated heating, ventilation and air conditioning units for the existing gymnasium
- Playground with three zones for different age groups and purposes
- Developed free-play zone with loose parts
- Football field and bleachers
- Volleyball courts (2)
- Basketball courts (2)
- Picnic pavilion with concessions, toilets and storage
- Landscape and paths
About UrbanTech
Urban Tech is a program within the Texas Tech University College of Architecture. It is a place for students to think, draw, design, model and create; a product of ideas and information in public exhibition in the form of drawings and models and transportable information via digital media; and a process of civic engagement and exploration. UrbanTech clarifies the public benefits of architecture, promotes the creation of knowledge and serves as a laboratory for ethical professional behavior where community needs supersede private agendas.
UrbanTech’s involvement with Guadalupe-Parkway Sommerville Centers is sponsored by FBT Architects and HB Construction. The project started in September 2015. UrbanTech has previously been involved in projects with the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts, High Cotton Homeless Facilities and downtown redevelopment projects.
About the Guadalupe-Parkway Sommerville Centers
Guadalupe-Parkway Sommerville Centers, a United Way community partner, has been serving families in the Guadalupe and Parkway neighborhoods for more than 50 years. It was founded in 1962 by the Lubbock Area United Way to address the needs of the families living in the Guadalupe neighborhood. After the 1970 tornado destroyed and damaged much of downtown and East Lubbock, director Barbara Sommerville perceived the need for a similar center in the Parkway-Cherry Point neighborhood. Over the years, the centers have served thousands of children and their families, providing literacy training, language skills, family living training and academic support.
(News release from Texas Tech University)
