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| Completion Date: | 1999 | ||
| Location: | Longmont, CO - 901 S. Fordham Street | ||
| Awards: | 2001 CO Chapter Design Merit Award, 2000 Colorado Construction Gold "Hard Hat", Outstanding Landscape Project | ||
| Description: |
Farm Life and an Alphabet Nursery Rhyme. These two themes found at Willow Farm Park are a direct result of involving the public in the design process. From the grooved concrete cattle guard entry feature, to the railings on the custom footbridge crossing Dry Creek, both themes allowed design creativity to go beyond the normal park design. The focus of the park, a relocated barn, has been remodeled into restroom facilities and picnic shelter. The Art in Public Places component continues the Farm Life theme with 3 animal sculptures being placed throughout the site. Imprinted duck and dinosaur prints in the concrete around the farm-theme playground serve as learning tools as well as to create a water feature for kids to splash in when they fill with water. Other water play features include a handicap-accessible hands-on old-time water pump where kids can actually pump water into a trough, and a sandy area near the creek to observe the flowing waters and native vegetation. The new concrete trail now connects to the existing Longmont Greenway Trail System.
Other amenities include an additional group picnic shelter at the west end of this 12 acre park. An in-line hockey rink, basketball court, and softball backstop near the barn. A multi-purpose grassy area has the ability to be flooded in the winter for ice skating. Ornamental grasses planted in crop rows adorn the parking island where a mailbox with homestead plantings welcome visitors. The Alphabet Nursery Rhyme Theme can be found throughout the site, whether it's the "B" for the barn, the "R" for the rooster on the weathervane, or "Y" for the shape of the mature trees along the creek. The City of Longmont, Design Concepts and the neighbors are truly excited to see the visions of Willow Farm Park become a reality. |
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