Articles
Zombie Survival Camp
Through the years, we at Kalispell Parks and Recreation in Kalispell, Mont., have struggled to fill a need in the community for some type of programming during the week prior to elementary schools beginning the year. Our traditional summer camp usually ends a week earlier because counselors head back to college, leaving the camp short-staffed.
Bubbling Up From The Ground
Deep below the earth’s surface near Boise, Idaho is a natural resource that people have been using for more than a century. A reservoir of geothermally-heated water flows under neighborhoods and streets, including some well-known landmarks.
Helping Residents Breathe Easier
In a city that records among the highest asthma death-rates in the country, Chicago parks and lakefronts provide welcome respites for residents seeking green space and fresh air. With assets that encompass 8,700 acres, and more than 600 parks, 27 beaches, and 26 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, Chicago Park District (CPD) significantly reduces its environmental impact and improves sustainability by using renewable and cleaner-burning biodiesel
No One Trailing Behind
The typical image of a park playground includes enthusiastic and engaged children playing tag, swinging from monkey bars, jumping from platforms, and laughing together. Then, just off to the side, are the adults—parents and guardians—with only a few venturing into the playground frenzy with their children.
A Big Believer In Trees
Trees are the answer. You may have heard that and thought trees could be the answer, but there are so many other things that demand attention in parks. Utilities, fields, walking paths, playgrounds, and tree canopy all fight for a place in parks and open spaces. How do we decide which is most critical? Which should be in a park?
The Turkey River Water Trail
The Turkey River flows through Northeast Iowa in a place known as the “Driftless Area.” It is unique to the Midwest as it was not glaciated and flattened by the last ice age. The topography varies from gently rolling hills to steep valleys framed by palisading limestone bluffs.
Beyond Playgrounds And Plants
Just five years after Oklahoma’s statehood in 1907, one of Oklahoma City’s oldest parks was purchased and became home to Will Rogers Gardens. The land, previously a dairy farm, began a transformation in 1932 when Henry Walters, the City Horticulturalist, designed the gardens’ ponds, plant beds, overlooks, and basic structures.
A Challenging But Abundant Resource
What can be done about a building resource growing abundantly in a region but is not being used? When creating the Cottonwood Canyon Experience Center, part of the Cottonwood Canyon State Park in Eastern Oregon, designers felt a need to ask this question.
Integrating Sustainable Thinking Into Conceptual Design
Located on a 160-acre site of forest, marsh, and restored prairie in St. Louis Park, Minn., the new Westwood Hills Nature Center, designed by HGA, includes indoor and outdoor spaces and programming for all ages and abilities.
Don’t Turn A Blind Eye
“Is there anyone else I can bring this concern to?” asked a parent who reached out to us at National Alliance of Youth Sports (NAYS) after attempts to resolve issues through the local team, the team’s regional conference operator, and local parks and recreation department failed.
Rethinking Priorities
“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to learn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”
--Ralph Waldo Emerson