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4
<br /> 6 Planning August 2001
<br /> renewed interest in their own 19th century sive species were allowed to take hold. Land- and community volunteers to the best prac-
<br /> examples.Restoration projects are under way scaping crews, unaware of the complexity of tices in the field.
<br /> 111 in Boston,Buffalo,Chicago,Louisville,New the park ecosystems, did further damage to Implementing the master plan has meant
<br /> York, Oakland, Pittsburgh, and many other the landscapes by taking an industrial ap- more than simply restoring Olmsted's origi-
<br /> places. proach to maintenance. nal designs. The parks have suffered from
<br /> Susan Rademacher, executive director of Change began in the late 1980s when a what Rademacher calls facility creep. "Over
<br /> the Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy, grassroots group called the Louisville Friends the decades,"she says, "there has been politi-
<br /> believes that unstructured open spaces are of Olmsted Parks issued a report on the con- cal pressure to add facilities willy-nilly rather
<br /> vital to the success of a community. "I am dition of the parks.The mayor responded by than by design. Now we're making an effort
<br /> constantly surprised by the way people rein establishing a task force that recommended to accommodate the needs of current park
<br /> vent open spaces,"she says."You never know the creation of a nonprofit organization to users without damaging the timeless quality
<br /> if you're going to find kite flyers,bongo play- work with the parks department to make of the landscape."
<br /> ers,dog walkers socializing,or a rugby match. major changes in the Olmsted system. In To this end,the master plan calls for phas
<br /> Last week,I heard this incredible music and a 1989,the nonprofit Louisville Olmsted Parks ing out inappropriately placed recreational
<br /> bagpiper,in full kilt,came strolling across one Conservan cy was created. facilities when they reach the end of their
<br /> of our wild meadows." The scale of Louisville's park reinvestment useful lives. The old facilities are then relo-
<br /> Rademacher realizes that it is difficult to effort is enormous. The conservancy's 1994 Gated to"active use zones"and replaced with
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<br /> Pho,s®2000 by T.Wa,han Quadrant
<br /> convince park and recreation officials that master plan, developed after several years of facilities that are sensitively integrated into
<br /> there is something to gain from not building public involvement, recommended$55 mil- the park.
<br /> recreation facilities. "It takes courage for a lion in improvements. Since the plan's adop- Sometimes restoration means taking
<br /> park administrator to choose not to clutter up tion by the city council,the conservancy and Olmsted's work to the next level. The park
<br /> free space and just allow people to just sit and Metro Parks (the city's parks agenry) have designer was,,Ha great innovator, says
<br /> relax,"she says. restored historic woodlands,vistas,and park- Rademacher. "He loved to experiment with
<br /> For decades,says Rademacher,Louisville's ways; repaired and constructed 12 miles of new things.The last thing he would want us
<br /> cash-strapped and recreation-oriented admin- park roads and paved paths and 10 miles of to do is put his landscapes under glass. Our
<br /> istrations made maintenance of the city's his- hiking and bridle trails; and planted more goal is to restore and rehabilitate as Olmsted
<br /> �oric system of Olmsted parks and boulevards than 1,500 trees and 15,000 plants.The part might do it today."
<br /> a low priority. Playgrounds, ball fields, and nership also has added new sports facilities, An example is Summit Field,a prairie land-
<br /> basketball and tennis courts were added with shelters,restrooms,parking,and playgrounds. scape in Iroquois Park. The conservancy has
<br /> little regard to how they would fit into the Throughout the process,says Rademacher, restored the landscape as a functional ecosys
<br /> landscape. Damage from years of wind and the conservancy has stressed quality design tem by installing a drainage system and add-
<br /> ice storms was ignored. Dead and diseased and good landscape management and main-
<br /> lug wetlands. "If Olmsted were alive today
<br /> plants and trees were not replaced,and inva tenance,ofren introducing maintenance staff and had our understanding of local soils and
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