SSA Landscape Architects

On March 13, 2024, the unveiling of the Sergeant Damon Gutzwiller Memorial at Willowbrook County Park was held in Aptos honoring fallen Santa Cruz County Sheriff, Sergeant Damon Gutzwiller, who died in the line of duty on June 6, 2020.

Sergeant Gutzwiller grew up in Santa Cruz County and lived in the neighborhood near Willowbrook Park which he frequented with his young family and dog. The Willowbrook Memorial is a peaceful place for the Sergeant’s family and community to visit, remember, and reflect. The Memorial will forever enshrine Sergeant Gutzwiller’s sacrifice.

SSA Landscape Architects were selected by Santa Cruz County Parks to design the Memorial at Willowbrook Park. SSA Landscape Architects and the County worked in close collaboration with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, Santa Cruz Deputy Sheriff’s Association, County Park Friends and Supervisor Zach Friend to obtain funding for the project. Community fundraising also provided funding for a portion of the project.

SSA designed and provided construction documents and construction administration for the Memorial seating and Flagpole entry area. The Memorial seating includes custom bronze footprint inlays of the Sergeant and his family, boulders hand selected and placed under the direction of Steve Sutherland from the Sierra Nevada’s (a place Damon and his family loved to visit), with several bronze plaques, custom engraved bricks, granite pavers, and a custom precast concrete bench with redwood backrest. The construction team was led by Tom Ralston President of Tom Ralston Concrete Company and included Paul Neal of Concrete Craftsmen providing the precast bench and redwood back rest, Ralph Russo of Russo Masonry installing the donor bricks and granite panels as well as the Bronze Plaques and K&D Landscape installing the irrigation and planting.

The Flagpole area marks the entry to Willowbrook Park and Memorial seating, along with new park signage and boulders with several memorial plaques. The renovated playground features new play equipment, and new poured-in-place rubber surfacing.

A magical evening in the Santa Cruz Mountains at this elegantly landscaped property designed by SSA. Custom lighting allows for a variety of color options and provides a feeling of luxury and sophistication which creates different moods and environments depending on the occasion.

SSA is honored to be working with Santa Cruz County Parks on the Willowbrook County Park Memorial.

On June 6, 2020, Sergeant Damon Gutzwiller was killed in the line of duty while serving Santa Cruz County. Sergeant Gutzwiller grew up in Santa Cruz County, owned his first home in the Willowbrook Neighborhood and frequented Willowbrook Park with his family and dog Shasta. This Memorial will ensure Damon's sacrifice is never forgotten.

Visit for more information on how to lend your support for the Willowbrook Memorial.

Image 1. View - Eternal Flag from Memorial Bench
Image 2. Memorial Bench Space
Image 3. Park Signage and Boulder Donor with Plaque

Thanks to Lakeport Public Works Department for creating and installing the new Lakefront Park project sign! 👍👏

An exciting new park is coming to Lakeport!

Check out the newest footage of the recently completed Magical Bridge Playground at Red Morton Park!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IyvFz9uGus&feature=youtu.be

Magical Bridge Playground Red Morton Park, Redwood City All inclusive playground, play for all abilities, magical bridge, magical bridge playground, accessible playground, ADA accessible playground, Redwood City P...

The Magical Bridge Playground at Red Morton Park in Redwood City is now complete and open to the public!

Red Morton Park is the largest programmed park in the City of Redwood City with athletic fields, tennis courts, play areas, recreational buildings, picnic areas, passive open spaces, bocce courts, skate park, and walking trails.

The project received funding from the Magical Bridge Foundation, a non-profit organization with the mission to create play for all. This manifests into creative play spaces that far exceed the Americans with Disabilities Act or universal playgrounds. Magical Bridge playgrounds intend to serve children and adults alike with any disability, including physical, visual, cognitive, or social.

Please visit https://redwoodcityparksblog.com/2020/12/04/we-are-learning/ to learn more about the new park and how to play safely while keeping COVID-19 protocol in mind.

Evandale Park, a 10,000 s.f. park located in Mountain View, is officially open! The Park includes garden areas for strolling amongst the trees, a playground for 5-12 year old range, all-inclusive elements such as spinning and retreat zones, a gathering space with benches, picnic and game tables, and a large lawn area for open play.

The grand opening celebration was small and socially distanced to keep everyone in the community safe. To get a peek at the opening ceremony, click the link below to watch a video from the City of Mountain View:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HjpMKItoek

Wyandotte Park in Mountain View is now open. The opening ceremony was held virtually in order to keep the community safe. Wyandotte Park is located on an approximately 1-acre lot in the Rengstorff / Old Middlefield area.

Click below to watch the opening ceremony as well as take a virtual park of the new park:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFtHk_LaaKo

The City of South San Francisco recently held a ribbon cutting ceremony for newly renovated Gardiner Park. SSA enjoyed collaborating with the City of South San Francisco and team on this project, and we are always excited for the experience of seeing the community come together to celebrate and enjoy their refurbished playground.

Some snapshots of Evandale Park in Mountain View! Construction is almost complete and the park will open to the public once COVID protocol allows the city to do so.

Red Morton Park is getting closer to completion every day! We are excited to be part of the team that’s creating a park which will serve all ages and abilities in the Redwood City community. Red Morton Park is expected to be completed this fall. Pictured here is the colorful park entrance and the rubber surfacing being installed last week.

A few of our recent projects as seen in some local newspapers. 👀 @ Santa Cruz, California

SSA is pleased to announce that Chanticleer Park, Santa Cruz County’s first inclusive park, is now complete. The park program includes historic structures, restrooms, picnic shelters, themed All-Inclusive play areas, parking, informal grass areas, off-leash dog areas, and community gardens. The grand opening of Chanticleer Park will be held this Saturday, January 18th from 10-11:30AM. All are welcome! @ Santa Cruz, California

The Braly Park Playground renovation is complete! This Japanese themed playground in Sunnyvale will become the hub of socialization and play for families in surrounding neighborhoods.

This past Saturday, some of the SSA staff and their families attended the groundbreaking of Leo’s Haven at Chanticleer Park in Santa Cruz. Leo’s Haven is an inclusive playground dedicated to uniting children of all abilities. Leo’s Haven is located in the heart of Santa Cruz County at the 4.5 acre Chanticleer Park. SSA started work on Chanticleer Park in 2009 with the master planning process and design development drawings which were completed in 2011. SSA led a design team, including Architect, Civil Engineer, Geotechnical Engineer, Electrical Engineer and Arborist in the design process, while working closely with the County and local Santa Cruz Community. The project was put on hold when the State defunded the redevelopment agencies in 2012. In 2015, SSA began work again when the County Board of Supervisors voted to support a public-private partnership between the County, Shane’s Inspiration, the Santa Cruz Playground Project, and the Chanticleer Park Neighbors Association to design and fundraise to build LEO’s Haven as part of the Phase 1 development of the Chanticleer Park Master Plan. SSA collaborated with Shane’s Inspiration on the design of the inclusive playground. SSA recently completed the construction documents for the first phase of work. Additional phase 1 improvements include: improvements include parking, restroom building, pathways and improvements to the existing community garden, bike pump track and off-leash dog areas.

This quote rings true here at SSA. We strive to continue using creativity and innovation to bring you the best designs possible.

Wishing you all a happy 4th of July! We hope you are celebrating with your community and loved ones today!

So much fun working with the administrators, faculty, staff, and community of Buena Vista Middle School in Salinas!

Here are some photos from the Ribbon Cutting Celebration at Alta Loma Park in South San Francisco with South San Francisco Parks and Recreation Department! What a great event!

On this beautiful first Friday of June, we are looking through the photos taken at the APWA Silicon Valley Chapter Awards Lunch that took place on May 16th at Michael's at Shoreline in Mountain View. We had a great time celebrating with colleagues and friends and as we were honored to receive the 2018 Public Works Project of the Year Award for Linden Park with Redwood City Parks, Recreation & Community Services. Check out the blog!

Linden Park receives 2018 APWA Silicon Valley Chapter Public Works Project of the Year Award. Linden Park receives 2018 APWA Silicon Valley Chapter Public Works Project of the Year Award.

The ribbon cutting ceremony this weekend was a ton of fun and the new playground was a huge success! Check out our blog for more info!
South San Francisco, California South San Francisco Parks and Recreation Department

The City of South San Francisco held a ribbon cutting ceremony for Alta Loma Park on April 21, 2018! The City of South San Francisco held a ribbon cutting ceremony for Alta Loma Park on April 21, 2018!

This Saturday, April 21th, South San Francisco Parks and Recreation Department is hosting a Ribbon Cutting Celebration for Alta Loma Park! This was an exciting and fun project for us and we are excited to see this new playground in action! If you'll be in the area, come check out the celebration! There will be an Arbor Day Tree Planting Event as well as food and games for all who attend. We hope to see you there!

We're excited to announce that SSA has been awarded 3 new park projects in Mountain View, California! Community Workshops are being held soon! Visit our website for more information:
http://www.ssala.com/firm/awards-and-announcements/three-new-mountain-view-projects-upcoming-workshops

City of Mountain View - City Hall

Three New Mountain View Projects and Upcoming Workshops

Green Schoolyards are another one of our passions at SSA! We're currently involved in the planning stages of 2 new green schoolyards for San Francisco Unified School District. Visit our website for more information on these fun projects!
https://buff.ly/2GI4J7E

Terrific job Mountain View City Hall and the entire Mountain View community! Congratulations on your 2018 Silicon Valley Water Conservation Award!

Silicon Valley Water Awards

A message from Steve:
"I'm so glad I was able to attend Nick Nichols' retirement luncheon yesterday at the Monterey County Government Center. Everyone there got choked up and shed a few tears saying goodbye, but also wished him the best in this new chapter of his life along with his wife, Jennifer. My first projects with Nick began back in 1992 in Boranda. After that, we collaborated on projects in Castroville and Pajaro. Our last project together was Pajaro Community Park which was completed in 2014 and received regional, statewide and national awards with the APWA and the CPRS. As an engineer and public works official Nick was a great person, working with politicians and citizens to make projects happen on time and within budget successfully. I feel honored to have gotten to work with Nick and become friends with him and Jennifer. I hope you two have fun and the time of your life in Hawaii!"

Check out this terrific article on Shane's Inspiration and transforming play from ! We're honored to be working on the Chanticleer Park / Leo's Haven with in Santa Cruz, building an all-inclusive playground right here in our own backyard.

Changing Perceptions, Transforming Play Shane's Inspiration is celebrating 20 years of opening playgrounds to people with mobility impairments and sensory processing disorders.

Red Morton Park Magical Bridge Playground Update!
On November 4th of last year, we broke ground on one of SSA's most exciting projects to-date! Visit our blog for more on this exciting project with Redwood City Parks, Recreation & Community Services and the Magical Bridge Foundation!

https://buff.ly/2pWWF7U