“It is essential to study national models when planning communities and community amenities,” said Doug Goff, Sienna's General Manager. He points to a recent Urban Land Institute Mayors' Forum discussing parks in the new century, calling them the unifying lens of green infrastructure. The Forum cited a dramatic shift in the 21 st century to market- or demand-based planning of parks to include such amenities as tot lots, water parks, basketball courts, and football fields. In his keynote address, Alexander Garvin, Yale professor of urban planning and a member of the New York City planning commission, asserted that the growth of these sports-themed parks exemplifies the shift from a passive approach to recreation to a more active one and illustrates that neighborhood recreation services are essential.
Taking its cue from successful urban management efforts, Sienna Plantation in Fort Bend County is developing a 200-acre parcel of land into Camp Sienna, a premier sports park that will serve a variety of athletic pursuits along the Brazos River Corridor, a geographic area designated for economic development. (View a detailed PDF of Camp Sienna)
“It is essential to study national models when planning communities and community amenities,” said Doug Goff, Sienna's General Manager. He points to a recent Urban Land Institute Mayors' Forum discussing parks in the new century, calling them the unifying lens of green infrastructure. The Forum cited a dramatic shift in the 21 st century to market- or demand-based planning of parks to include such amenities as tot lots, water parks, basketball courts, and football fields. In his keynote address, Alexander Garvin, Yale professor of urban planning and a member of the New York City planning commission, asserted that the growth of these sports-themed parks exemplifies the shift from a passive approach to recreation to a more active one and illustrates that neighborhood recreation services are essential.
“In addition to Camp Sienna, since launching Sienna nine years ago, we have completed Club Sienna, a 12-acre recreation complex that includes the South's largest private water park, and Brushy Lake Fitness Center, a 6,000-square-foot facility that offers residents top-notch exercise opportunities within the community.”
Camp Sienna's first phase is under construction now and will include baseball and soccer fields, a concession area, a scenic overlook of the Brazos River, 1.5 miles of walking trails, a picnic pavilion and a playground. It will open later this year.
“National studies conclude that for residential neighborhoods to survive and prosper, parks and open spaces have to work with and unify the built environment,” Goff said. Continually assessing such studies, Sienna has positioned Camp Sienna to not only provide active and passive recreational opportunities, but also to be a major first step toward the development of the Brazos River Corridor. Planned for long-term development, the Corridor will provide Fort Bend County residents with natural parklands including canoeing and fishing access along the Brazos River, trails, picnic facilities and playgrounds.
When complete, Camp Sienna will be one of the largest active recreational areas catering to diverse outdoor interests within a master-planned community of comparable size.
Added features in future phases include a skateboard park, basketball court and sand volleyball pit, as well as an environmental education area; hiking, biking and equestrian trails; additional baseball and soccer fields; and other passive and active recreational amenities.
With work on Camp Sienna visibly progressing, a committee of Sienna residents is meeting with local sports organizations to discuss expanding their operations to Camp Sienna once first-phase fields are ready for play next spring.
"This will be of tremendous value to parents who will be able to spend less time in the car shuttling their young athletes to practices and games," said Lisa Cox, Sienna's Director of Recreation and Fun.
Designed for 20,000 homes and 70,000 residents, Sienna Plantation is a comprehensive master-planned community with a mix of land uses including residential, retail, commercial, civic, recreational, religious, educational and medical, and a variety of housing choices including single-family and multi-family. Homes by the nation's leading builders are priced from the $100s to the millions and can be found in distinctive neighborhoods with a wide choice of housing styles. The community offers more than 2,000 acres dedicated to parklands, golf courses, recreation areas, lakes, greenbelts and nature reserves.
Club Sienna includes a community center, a terraced amphitheater with a stage suspended over Waters Lake, a fishing pier, eight lighted tennis courts, a sand volleyball pit and a half-acre playground, as well as a water park with 200 feet of twisting slides, three diving wells, a junior Olympic pool and a zero-entry area to a playscape.
Brushy Lake Fitness Center includes a fitness facility and group exercise classrooms designed for more than 45 weekly classes. Other amenities are a covered picnic pavilion and a playground. Sienna residents will enjoy a third community pool when the Brushy Lake pool opens in June. Designed for lap swimming as well as recreational swimming, the pool will offer a diving well, a children's play area with zero-beach entry, slide and water bubblers.
Students attend Sienna Crossing Elementary and Scanlan Oaks Elementary, both located within Sienna Plantation, Lake Olympia Middle School and Hightower High School. A middle school along Sienna Parkway is under construction and will open for the 2006-2007 school year.
