To mark the celebrations of the 160th anniversary of the city of Ribeirão Preto, Multiplan — the administrator of RibeirãoShopping and ShoppingSantaÚrsula — delivered a new park for the town on June 15. Located near RibeirãoShopping in the Jardim Nova Aliança neighborhood, Parque das Artes (Arts Park) received a R$3 million upgrade. In addition to being a cozy outdoor area designed for the practice of leisure and sports activities containing some 68,000 m2, the Park will become a venue for cultural and artistic events.
I always passed by this place and saw it all abandoned. It made me sad, an area like this so carelessly dealt with. I’ve been pushing for its revitalization for a long time and you will see that there's now one more place for walking and exercising. This is a present from Multiplan and Ribeirao Shopping to commemorate the anniversary of the city,” said Multiplan’s president, José Isaac Peres.
With 45,000 square meters of vegetation and about 23,000 meters covered by a series of three interconnected artificia lakes, the park features a covered running and walking path that is over 1,500 meters long and three meters wide, which promises to be one of the largest of its kind in the city. Another highlight is a space designed exclusively for Food Truck events. The Arts Park will be open every day, from 6 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
The site also includes four convenience squares and three entrances for access control, designed to offer safety and comfort. The three new entrance portals make use of ecologically correct materials, such as wood, permeable concrete and ecological tiles, which balance environmental and visual aspects.
Bridges and pedestrian overpasses made out of ecological materials were also installed to link the various sections of the Park, facilitating the use of space. The site also has a police station with parking spots for patrol cars.
"For those of us at RibeirãoShopping, it's an honor to present the city with a new area for convenience, leisure and culture. We are delivering a complete park, an incentive for those seeking quality of life, and outdoor sports," said the superintendent of RibeirãoShopping, Felix Diez.
The investment also included the rebuilding of the fences that surround the location and protect planted areas throughout the park. The existing pavement in the entire surroundings was renovated, maintaining the original composition. One of the highlights is special lighting, which also has a focus on sustainability. The entire system uses LED lamps, which guarantee lower energy consumption and contributes to the reduction of the environmental footprint, since this type of lamp technology boasts longer useful life and is more easily and sustainably disposed.
The reform also includes a careful landscaping project that involves an exchange of 40,000 square meters of grass. The current plant coverage, with medium and large trees, was expanded, using native trees from the region such as Yellow Ipê, Purple Ipê, Canafistula, Angico, Cedar, Reseda and Imperial Acacia, among others. Flowers, including various species of jasmine, several species of spring flowers, azaleas and ruélia, contribute to the enhanced visual aspect of the Park.
The squares are equipped with treated eucalyptus benches and pergolas decked with yellow, white and purple spring flowers to provide beauty and thermal comfort for resting, reading or contemplation. The space also offers men's and women's restrooms with accessibility for the handicapped, water fountains and selective waste disposal receptacles. The All Design firm, belonging to Eduardo Salata and Maitê Orsi, projected the new park.
