Charis Park at Sunset Ridge

We’ve broken ground!

We envision Charis Park at Sunset Ridge as a natural place for neighborhood flourishing and connection. It will be a peaceful oasis that invites neighbors to connect with one another and nature. Each visit, neighbors of all ages can experience wonder as they discover new ways to gather, to learn, to eat, to play, and to rest.

For decades, a large one-acre parking lot belonging to Sunset Ridge Church in Terrell Heights sat unused. After going through a years long re-visioning process, Sunset Ridge Church created a new missional expression, Sunset Ridge Collective, to focus on the flourishing of the neighborhood. Through this process a need arose for green space for neighbors to spend time in nature and with one another, and thus the idea for Charis Park was born.

In 2021 we partnered with the Impact Guild’s Good Acres to help us conceptualize the park along with a team of Sunset Ridge Collective staff and Terrell Heights neighbors. This process informed a Request for Proposals through which we hired San Antonio landscape architects Coral Studio to design the park and Agave Design Studio to construct the park.

Project timeline overview:

• Demolition begins: April 11, 2023, anticipated 4 - 6 weeks

• Public Groundbreaking Ceremony: Saturday, June 3, 10:00am

• Targeted Park Completion: Spring 2024

Gather. Eat. Play. Rest.

The park will feature a main circular walkway that will connect distinct areas for neighbors to gather, eat, play, and rest.

There will be plenty of places for people to sit and gather including under the main pavilion and also at a large, custom-built community table.

One Another, a coffee trailer owned and operated by Sunset Ridge Collective and currently located in the Sunset Ridge Church parking lot, will become a permanent fixture of the new Charis Park when it is completed. All proceeds from One Another Coffee will go to support the creation and maintenance of Charis Park.

Additionally Scott’s Pizza trailer  will offer lunch and dinner options.

There will be outdoor games and interactive art made from repurposed tree trunks. And people will be invited to rest in the peaceful meditation garden that will feature a green labyrinth and areas to sit.

Sustainability

We chose to partner with Coral Studio landscape architects because of their priority towards environmental stewardship in the design of the natural and built environments of this project. Their innovative design includes integrating all existing site materials in order to keep them out of landfills. The asphalt was crushed up and strategically buried onsite to help reshape the landscape and the concrete curbs will be repurposed into custom site furniture. The natural slope of the site will feature a rain garden to capture runoff water. And of course the heat load of the lot will be significantly reduced by converting it into green space. The natural elements will include native plants and trees, and a pollinator garden.