News
The First Americans Museum wins the 2021 Best of Best Projects Award.
ERN (Engineering New-Record) has recently announced that the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City is the National Award Winner for 2021 Best of the Best Projects in the Government/Public Buildings category. This project, selected from over 800 regional submissions, was recognized for having a team that “represents the pinnacle of design and construction achievement.”
New convention district approved for downtown Dallas.
Plans to redevelop the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in downtown Dallas with a new convention district, including a 2.5 million square foot building and a deck park over I-30 connecting with the Cedars neighborhood, have been approved by the Dallas City Council. Supporters hope this project will help revitalize this portion of the city and provide a more cohesive connection with the rest of downtown.
ASLA Interviews Mary Margaret Jones: The Transformative Impact of Landscape Architecture
“That is the beauty of landscape architecture. We are not just doing the science; it’s not just a matrix of solving problems. We also create places people will love. The result of that will be economic investment and stewardship. If we don’t make places people love, they won’t be taken care of.”
Latest Designs Unveiled for New Park at Penn’s Landing
The Park at Penn’s Landing has released a three-part video series about the history of the park’s design and public engagement process. Mary Margaret Jones is featured, highlighting the essential role of public engagement for the design process. Enjoy brand new renderings and an overview of each section of the park along with a run down of all the design details.
Mary Margaret Jones will be participating in the Closing Panel: ‘Pathways to Civic Engagement’ at the Courageous by Design Symposium on October 15th at 3:40pm EST.
“Organized and presented by The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF), this daylong symposium will focus on New York City just as the city’s Department of City Planning (DCP) is actively engaging with communities throughout the five boroughs to advance their own zoning and land use strategies in an effort to “reduce flood risks and support the city’s vitality and resiliency through long-term adaptive planning.”
Read more about the symposium and the amazing group of speakers at TCLF.org
Carpenter Park Construction in Full Swing
Carpenter Park, which will be the largest park in the downtown urban core of Dallas when completed, is currently under construction and set to open in the Spring of 2022. The reconfiguration and reinstallation of Robert Irwin’s ‘Portal Park Slice’ is almost complete with the last of the panels being set this August.
Riverfront Park Opens in Wilmington
Downtown Wilmington, NC’s new flagship Riverfront Park (formerly dubbed North Waterfront Park) had a ribbon cutting on July 2nd and an all day opening festival for the 4th of July, featuring local bands, food vendors, and all-ages activities. The 6.6 acre park also houses the Live Oak Bank Pavilion, a new Live Nation venue that will kick off its 2021 concert season with a three night, already sold-out stand with Widespread Panic. Future concerts will include Miranda Lambert, Carlos Santana, and comedians Jim Gaffigan and Trevor Noah. The Park centers a slate of new residential development in a previously industrial zone just north of Wilmington’s historic downtown, and connects directly to the city’s iconic Riverwalk.
Silver Lake Reservoir in May 2021 issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine
Our master plan for the Silver Lake Reservoir Complex is featured in this month’s Landscape Architecture Magazine, highlighting the community-driven design process focused on transforming this iconic urban water infrastructure into a resilient and enduring park that blends urban wildlife with human uses.
From “Alternate Ending” by Timothy A. Schuler. After decades of being off-limits to the public, Los Angeles’s Silver Lake Reservoir could return to the people. The reservoir was once a gathering place, but when it was decommissioned, the future went hazy. Navigating a vocal public process, Hargreaves Jones and the local firm Chee Salette honed a jumble of ideas into a plan for people and wildlife.
American Public Works Association Awards Scissortail Park One of the Public Works Projects of the Year 2020
We are excited to share that Scissortail Park in Oklahoma City has been awarded one of the American Public Works Association’s Public Works Projects of the Year for 2020. This 70 acre park links downtown to the river and creates an amenity for residents and visitors to enjoy including woodlands, gardens, plazas, play areas, a Great Lawn and hill with multi-use performance stage, café, lake with boathouse and a promenade that links city to river. The project also planted 1000 new trees to provide a much-needed shade canopy to protect from the harsh Oklahoma summer climate, integrated water systems that culminate in a recreational lake, and included Architecture that transcends simple use to become iconic park elements. It embodies the spirit of the city’s exuberance and reflects its continued growth as a place everyone wants to live, work and play.
Find out more about the park here:
Fiesta Bowl PLAY at Margaret T. Hance Park Opens
Mayor Kate Gallego of Phoenix cut the ribbon on the first phase of the Margaret T. Hance Park this month. This phase includes the 20,000 square foot Fiesta Bowl PLAY area featuring beautiful and innovative animal-shaped play structures, as well as native planting and gardens. Construction documentation continues for the upcoming phases of the final park, which will ultimately cover 32 acres over US Interstate 101 in downtown Phoenix.
“As we continue to make Downtown Phoenix a live/work/play/learn neighborhood and destination, the addition of unique amenities like the Fiesta Bowl PLAY will make Hance Park an every-day recreation opportunity for the local community and must-see destination for visitors. Every great city has a great urban park, and this sponsorship is the catalyst for a vibrant and active park that will contribute to the continued revitalization of Downtown. “ Phoenix Community Alliance Executive Director John Hamby