December 13, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Marina del Rey, CA – The 15th Annual SCDF Industry Awards, presented by the Southern California Development Forum, has honored Parque de los Sueños, and the design team led by Meléndrez, with its prestigious Community Enrichment Award at the Luxe Summit Bel Air Hotel today.

Tiffany Harris, Executive Director of Shane’s Inspiration, the developer of this park for children with disabilities to play side-by-side with their able-bodied peers, accepted the award.  Attending the awards presentation were key members of the architectural and engineering design team from Meléndrez: Melani Smith, Principal; Tony Chacon, Senior Associate and Project Manager; and from Gotama Building Engineers, Caecilia Gotama, P.E., Principal, Paul Immerman, P.E., Chief Electrical Engineer.  Among the featured guests of Meléndrez and Gotama were David Vela from the office of Supervisor Gloria Molina, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and Brad Thornton from Shane’s Inspiration who were on hand to witness the presentation.

The awards panel, consisting of Paula Stamp, CPSM, PCL Construction; Barbara Blackman, Blackman & Holberton; Walt Cousineau, Knoll; Rob Carley, CPSM, Professional Service Industries, Inc.; Leslie Young, Gruen Associates; Sheila Pastor, Shaw Contract Group; Mike Enomoto, AIA, Gruen Associates; and Darren Hereford, Weston, Benshoof, Rochefort, et al, in their decision to make the award, stated that, “Parque de Los Sueños is an excellent representation of community, government and private sector partnership working toward a common goal.  The essence of the neighborhood was prevalent throughout the project.  The committee was impressed with the design of the equipment and how it effectively helped children of all abilities interact with each other.”

Shane's Inspiration is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of children with disabilities.  With the support of visionary community leaders, Shane's Inspiration created the first Universally Accessible Playground in the Western United States and the largest in the nation: "Shane's Inspiration," located in Griffith Park.  Parque de Los Sueños is the second Universally Accessible Playground in East Los Angeles, featuring a space-themed interactive shuttle with movable controls, steering instruments, broad wings for climbing – giving children with disabilities the opportunity to practice balance, eye-hand coordination, and upper body strengthening with able-bodied children - among other play equipment such as periscopes and a 3-foot high maze.

MELÉNDREZ is a 30-person Southern California-based landscape architecture, planning and urban design firm dedicated to improving the quality of life in the urban environment. The firm provides clients with design solutions that are consistently high in quality, user-focused and transformative. Meléndrez brings great value to every project by transforming urban spaces into accessible, human-scaled, enduring environments– places full of activity, in which people can lead healthy, active lives. Lauren Meléndrez founded the firm 20 years ago with a vision: to shape the face of LA’s urban environment as the city matures. Today, the leadership team of Lauren, Scott Baker, Melani Smith, and Bob Larlee, continues to build on this vision to create better urban environments by bringing knowledge and expertise to projects throughout the Southern California region and beyond, in the public and private sectors.