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| Completion Date: | 2006 | ||
| Location: | Louisville, Colorado | ||
| Awards: | 2006 Design Merit Award - CO Chapter ASLA | ||
| Description: |
Long considered and hoped for by its citizens of the City of Louisville, the Landscape Architect became involved in the early budgeting and conceptual design phase for a new Community Park in late 2001.
Originally envisioned as an expansion facility for a growing recreational services program, the project was reconceived as a civic gathering space. Working closely with City Staff, a sequence of intensive public workshops were held at which the citizenry of Louisville were invited to participate in the development of the final design program and master planning of the park. The initial plan was modified and expanded in response to public input, changing site conditions and revised financial considerations. Design Concepts worked with architects, engineers, City Council and Staff in the preparation of the design development and construction documents for the Community Park. The documents were placed out to bid at the end of 2004 and the project came in under budget allowing the City the opportunity to proceed with many alternate bid items and upgrades. The initial scope of the project was modest. However, early in the process, a conscious decision was made to connect the Community Park in space and time to the City of Louisville, its history and sense of place. The site, though empty and undeveloped, was located at the junction of a number of interesting topological instances. Located at the edge of Louisville's Old Town and the junction between historic, urban and pastoral landscapes, the site was bordered by railroad property, single family homes, Coal Creek, and an original farmstead. 200 feet beneath the surface is the historic ACME Coal Mine, long since abandoned and flooded with water. Each of these influencing factors was researched and discussed thoroughly with the client and each was found to be of equal importance to the identity of the City of Louisville. Farming, mining and the railroads drove the early development of City and are reflected today in the historic buildings of adjacent Old Town. The juxtaposition of city and farm and city and nature too, is integral to local identity and sense of place. It was from this confluence of ideas therefore, that the Landscape Architect developed the guiding theme of Crossroads as a mechanism for pulling from these various sources the ideas that would drive the design of the park and coalesce them into an integrated whole. Presented to the citizenry, this theme garnered wide acceptance and served as an educational tool for explaining the design process to the decision makers and to the public. The park's features reflect the "A Crossroads of Historical Influences" theme. The primary improvements consisted of a soccer field, a children's play area, a small shelter and parking facilities. The final expanded program called for an ambitious quadrupling of the original budget and sought to provide facilities for a host of community activities including outdoor theatre, outdoor market place, recreational fields, bocce courts (a special request from the community, and reflect the community's Italian heritage), basketball courts, horseshoe pits, water play, and an off-leash, irrigated dog park with a pond and sandy beach. Other site amenities in the final plan included several picnic/shade shelters, ornamental gardens, and ponds which also serve as storage of re-use water for irrigation purposes as well as for water play in the dog park. Playground - The new playground at the 11-acre park especially reflects the community's mining and railroad history. The central playground, partially funded by Great Outdoors Colorado, features a sculpted concrete climbing structure that resembles a mine shaft. Plaza - In the central plaza area, concrete was sandblasted and stained with two-dimensional patterns that depict the underground vaults and tunnels from the old Acme coal mine on the site. In the sand-play discovery area, kids can find buried agricultural items such as horseshoes, plus a little train climbing structure. Picnic Pavilion - A large central pavilion with restrooms resembles a Victorian-era railroad depot on the prairie with a traditional flower garden with boxwood borders. The pavilion is named for the Caranci Family, long-time members of the Louisville community. The park was dedicated on April 29, 2006. |
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