Project overview: Reimagine the parking lot as a more resilient, organized, and welcoming entry to Curry Village that also improves the health of the existing orchard.

How your support helps: Curry Orchard is already an important cultural, historical, and ecological space, and an augmented parking lot has the potential to serve as a more memorable and enduring gateway to Curry Village and Yosemite as a whole. Looking at both the historic landscape design and the contemporary resource constraints on the site, this project will fund a study to reimagine the design of the parking lot. It will address the longstanding need to improve the conditions of the parking lot and will be done in concert with the restoration of the trees in Curry Orchard. By incorporating elements such as granite barriers and interpretive signage, this enhanced gateway to an important cultural landscape will improve the health of the existing orchard trees while also creating a more meaningful entry sequence for visitors and staff alike.  

In an effort to broaden the perspectives surrounding potential approaches to this project, a portion of the funding will also support a partnership with a landscape architecture studio at the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design, engaging students in the study of the various resource concerns at the orchard site. This additional layer of collaboration will greatly strengthen our final approach and ongoing treatment plan for the site. 

This year: Yosemite staff will complete early compliance tasks and consult with project partners to develop an imaginative plan that will respect the historic nature of the site while presenting novel, innovative ways to reoccupy the space. 

Project partners: University of California, Berkeley; Yosemite National Park

Scott Shinton

Project Notes

"Already an important cultural, historical, and ecological space, an augmented parking lot has the potential to serve as a more memorable and enduring gateway to the Village and Yosemite as a whole."