Morongo Civic Center 

Cabazon, CA

 

VDLA was retained by the project architect to prepare a 40-acre landscape master plan of a central civic center on tribal lands. The core of the complex includes a tribal hall, administration center, tutorial center, senior housing and assisted living facility and a recreation complex, featuring an indoor gym, fitness center, outdoor Olympic pool, volleyball courts, baseball / football and soccer fields and an outdoor track facility.

 

The tribal hall opens onto a veterans’ memorial, featuring a symbolic ‘book of the living’ plaza, honoring the living members of the tribe who are war veterans. The memorial also provides a ceremonial amphitheater and ‘memorial tree grove’ as a tribute to the deceased veterans of the tribe. Parking areas are interspersed throughout the site, providing close proximity for various site uses. Shade is emphasized in the desert environment, with groves of broad-spreading canopy trees.