Come September, it may not be obvious but Portola Valley may have acquired something in common with AT&T Park in San Francisco, the 1993 movie “The New Adventures of Superman” and a 1997 album by The Rolling Stones.
Each of those entities has commissioned work by the same Richmond art studio — Scientific Art Studio Corp. — now engaged by the town, following a unanimous April 25 vote by the Town Council, to create a one-of-a-kind play structure for the new Town Center complex.
“We wanted something that was unique and not a plastic McPlayground that you see anywhere on the Peninsula,” said resident and Parks & Recreation Committee member Erica Hughes at the council meeting.
Ms. Hughes reported to the council as part of a March 2006 task force, convened by then-mayor Steve Toben, to find an artist whose playground design “embodied a sense of place and reflected both the natural setting and history of the town,” said Town Attorney Sandy Sloan in an April 9 memo.
Ms. Hughes had surveyed parents in town to gauge their playground preferences and found support for a simple design that is not “cookie-cutter” and has “special meaning to the town,” Ms. Sloan said.
This proposal, for ages 2-6, includes an apple cart with wooden barrels and crates and a “forest play area” that features a crawl-through tunnel, a hollow tree stump, a balancing structure, a pretend camping site and a hill to clamber up, Ms. Sloan said.
The design, which must comply with applicable safety guidelines, does not include rocking horses, swings, benches or water fountains, Ms. Sloan said.
The total cost may not exceed $95,000, Ms. Sloan said.
Because the result would be a work of art, the town is not obligated to put the project out for competitive bidding, Ms. Sloan said.
The town’s intent is to have the playground finished for the Blues & Barbecue festival in September, Mayor Ted Driscoll said.
The online portfolio for Scientific Art Studio Corp. at scientificart-studio.com shows examples of models made for both the Superman movie and the Rolling Stones album, “Bridges to Babylon.”
In her memo to the council, Ms. Sloan notes that the studio also crafted the sculpture of the giant baseball glove at AT&T Park.
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