PROJECT
Recreational & Public Parks
William J. Rish State Recreational Park
The William J. Rish State Recreational Park consists of 100 acres, located on St. Joe Peninsula, near Port St. Joe, Florida. While State Road 30-E bisects the park, it offers both a gulf side and bay side access. It serves as the State’s only completely accessible park. Rish Park serves persons with disabilities and their immediate families or guardians.
ts for the Bayside consists The scope of work consists of 2 phases .
Phase 1 occurs on the south side of the park property the scope of services includes 800 lineal feet boardwalk, freshwater fishing platform, new bath house with changing area, and a floating dock with kayak launch.
Additionally, we were responsible for the environmental permitting through Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corp of Engineers. The project has on-going scope items that will be added at a later time the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (ADP) anticipates adding a recreational vehicle park to open the park to expanded customer utilization.
Phase 2 occurs on the northern side of the park property consists of a recreational vehicle park for overnight camping, new roads, parking spaces, retention pond, RV park amenities, bath houses, an accessible pedestrian bridge, bayside pavilions and interconnecting boardwalk to phase 1.
Bayside Improvements
The Gulf Side Improvements included a master plan for the gulf side, assessment and documentation of existing structures in need of repair and updating, evaluation of budgeting for needed maintenance, and development of an implementation plan for the existing Dining Hall, the Family and Camper Cottages.
HDGA were tasked with the preparation of renovation documents for the renovation of the Camper Cottages, Family Cottages and the renovation of the Community Dining Hall.
These renovations completely reorganized the floor plans of the Camper Cottages and the Family Cottages to bring the structures up to current code and replace tired finishes, equipment and fixtures. With these modifications these structures should service the parks needs for another 40 years.
The Dining Hall received a complete exterior façade and the interiors were renovated, removing barriers that had been in place since the inception of the park, which was created prior to the Americans with Disabilities Acts (ADA). The building also received a completely new HVAC system and plumbing fixtures. Construction costs of the project $2.2 million. Served as Architect of Record
Facility improvements
A proto type building renovation was developed for both the Camper Cottage and the Family Cottage. The intent was that this would allow the Park to upgrade the cottages as funding became available. Use of the existing shell and existing ‘Standing Seam’ roof proved to be a viable option for each Cottage type. HDGA was tasked with designing upgrades to the Dining Hall that included HVAC, and plumbing modifications to the toilet rooms, during this phase. Additionally there were two area pavilion designed to occur along the existing boardwalk to allow users to rest as they made their way to the beach, pool and dining hall.
Recently we have been contracted to perform the design services for the renovation of the exterior of the Dining hall which included the removal of existing exterior doors, windows, soffit and repair of damaged wood structure. The building will then be re-sided with cementitious lap siding, impact resistant windows, new doors with ADA operators and a new soffit installed.
Storm Repairs
Hurricane Michael struck the Panhandle in October of 2018 causing significant damage to the park and its structures primarily on the Gulf side of the park. HDGA was tasked with the following projects as a result of the damage from the storm:
- Replacement of accessible access ramp to the beach
- New manager’s residence and work shed
- New family cottage to replace the one that was totally destroyed
- Renovations to the cottages that were just damaged
- New pool cabanas and expansion of pool deck
- Repairs to boardwalk with the addition of new rest areas
Camper Cottage & Family Cottage
The task was to evaluate structure built in the 1980’s, determine what was salvageable and return the cottages to and updated and improved condition.
William J. Rish is the only fully ADA accessible park in the state serving persons with physical and mental disabilities. Therefor every aspect of new construction is thoroughly reviewed for ADA compliance. There are multiple cottages so the office was asked to prepare documents that could be implemented over time as the Florida Agency for Persons with Disabilities secures funding over various years.
We prepared a costing study for improvements to the cottages at Rish Park. With long overdue maintenance and repairs looming and budget issues to consider the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (ADP), through the Florida Department of Management.
Services (DMS), commissioned the Hammond Design Group, LLC (HDG) to assist with programming, scope prioritization, and costing associated with renovating the gulf side cottages. The goal being to develop a unit cost per cabin to assist in budgeting for this project.
A prototype building renovation was developed for the Camper Cottage and the Family Cottage. The intent was that this would allow the Park to upgrade the cottages as funding became available. Use of the existing shell and existing ‘Standing Seam’ roof proved to be a viable option for each Cottage type. HDGA was tasked with designing upgrades to the Dining Hall that included HVAC, and plumbing modifications to the toilet rooms, during this phase. Additionally, there were two area pavilions designed to occur along the existing boardwalk to allow users to rest as they made their way to the beach, pool and dining hall.
Gulf side Beach Access Ramp
Following Hurricane Michael William J. Rish Recreational Park suffered significant damage on the Gulf side of the park. During this hurricane the park lost its beach access ramp. The Hammond Design Group, LLC (HDGA) was contracted to develop and secure environmental permits for the construction of a new beach access ramp to replace the existing structure. HDGA was also charged with the preparation of complete construction documents for the new access ramp. The process involved Hammond Design Group, to work through the local Gulf County Planning Department to secure construction consistency letters and the FDEP Coastal Construction Control Line Department as the access ramp occurs forward of the Coastal Construction Control Line. The Access Ramp just completed Gulf County Building Department Permit review, however due to turtle season, the project will be placed on hold until November of 2020 to begin construction after the turtle nesting is complete.