COCONINO COUNTY — The Elizabeth “Liz” C. Archuleta County Park in Flagstaff has won both the Crescordia Award for Environmental Education and Communication and the Award of Distinction for Art in Public Places at the Arizona Forward Gala on April 29th.
The Elizabeth “Liz” C. Archuleta County Park provides gardens, watchable wildlife, education, and multicultural art to the Sawmill neighborhood community and beyond. Elizabeth Archuleta was instrumental in creating the park to honor the community and the sawmill worker heritage in the area. Ms. Archuleta was the first Latina elected to the Board of Supervisors and served as District 2 Supervisor for 25 years. The site was officially dedicated as a Coconino County Park on June 20, 2003, originally as Sawmill Multicultural Art and Nature County Park. Coconino County Parks and Recreation honored Archuleta’s commitment to our community by renaming the former Sawmill County Park in her honor in August of 2022.
Ms. Archuleta championed the park because of its location, service to the community, and historical importance. The county park was built on a brownfield where one of Flagstaff’s first sawmills operated from 1908 to 1993. The logging and lumber industry shaped the structure of Flagstaff by attracting families of Mexican, African American, Swedish, Polish, and Italian descent to work at the mills. The sawmill history created the diverse culture that has defined Flagstaff since its beginning.
The park provides habitat gardens with interpretive QR codes that educate visitors on local biodiversity, sustainable horticulture, and traditional Indigenous agricultural practices. QR codes also provide information on the watchable wildlife platform, outdoor classroom, newly renovated pond, sundial, and stone arch, as well as the composting and water conservation systems. Art throughout the park was provided by local artist and naturalist, Geoffrey Gross. His sculptures are seen throughout the gardens, provide tactile art at the watchable wildlife platform, function as an entrance for the pond, and provide the wildlife statues for the outdoor classroom. His mosaics are also on display at the garden, as well as the tracks of local wildlife, which he created from castings. He also created the sundial.
Additional art comes from master stonemasons, David Wilson, who constructed the stone arch, and Alan Ash, who built the dry-stone walls at the Hummingbird Garden in the park. Community murals also decorate the park, celebrating a rotation of local artists and art communities who celebrate the diverse cultures of the area.
The park is a source of education, as well. The Willow Bend Environmental Education Center, under the leadership of Executive Director, Moran Henn, provides educational programs to a wide range of ages, from Science Saturdays to school programs. Willow Bend is a Coconino County Parks nonprofit partner that provides educational programs, workshops, field trips, and events. They hold an annual Eagle Celebration, in partnership with Liberty Wildlife, ongoing programming, and the popular Science Saturday programs. The center itself is a Certified Sustainable Building, providing an example of sustainable design and energy to the community.
The Native Heirloom Garden, first planted in 2018 under the guidance of Eric Polingyouma of the Bluebird Clan, Shungopavi Village, educates on Indigenous agriculture methods and heirloom plants. The composting, shed water collection, pond, and viewing platform also teach visitors about sustainability, conservation, and local wildlife.
The park also supports readers with the Storybook Path. This path provides the pages of the book Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match by local author Monica Brown. The pages are displayed on pedestals in English and Spanish. QR codes provide audio in English, Spanish, and Diné. The Storybook Path is made possible by a collaboration with the Flagstaff Literacy Center.
This prestigious awards program has served as Arizona’s signature sustainability recognition event for over 40 years. Initiated in 1980, the environmental excellence awards program is a benchmark for economic and environmental accomplishment. Across Arizona, leaders and teams are taking their vision for a better Arizona and turning it into action. The top awards of the program receive the Crescordia Award. The term “Crescordia” is a Greek word that means to grow in harmony.
Arizona Forward is the state’s leading sustainability not-for-profit organization that has successfully worked on major environmental initiatives for Arizona since 1969. The organization leverages its collective power by forming solid partnerships with Arizona business leaders, local and state officials, state education leaders and policymakers to drive how the state can best grow its communities, stimulate the economy, and enhance the environment. Arizona Forward has a prominent membership of 150+ public and private sector organizations that serve on issue committees and participate in events throughout the year.