Chess Park, Glendale, California
Rios Clementi Hale Studios, Los Angeles, California

Created as a part of the City of Glendale’s efforts to redevelop its downtown core, the 4,500-square-foot Chess Park provides residents, the Glendale Chess Club, and other community organizations with a multi-functional urban pocket park that fosters and celebrates artistry, gamesmanship, intellectual debate, and challenge.  The park is located in a previously underused passageway which runs between two retail shops in the Brand Boulevard business district, connecting a city parking structure to the bustling streetfront shops, restaurants, and theaters on Brand Boulevard, Glendale’s main thoroughfare. 

The Glendale Chess Club was instrumental in creating the Chess Park, having approached the city government as a group to request that the City designate a space where its club and others could play.  The City’s solution was to utilize the undeveloped Brand Boulevard passageway. In an unusual partnership, the City of Glendale brought the Landscape Architects together with the Chess Club to ensure the design program met the organization’s playing needs and celebrated the rich history and traditions of chess.