Rec & Open Space

During fall semester 2018, LAEP Juniors in LAEP 3100 had a fantastic opportunity to work on several unique projects under the direction of Ole Sleipness. For their first project, students redesigned a picnic and day-use area at Timpanogos Cave National Monument in American Fork Canyon. The project was a great opportunity to learn about increasing demand for recreation from the Wasatch Front’s growing population, and how existing recreation facilities can be improved to better accommodate a broader range of users. Students also got to interact with the Timpanogos Friends group, specialists in recreation management and stream restoration, Superintendent Jim Ireland, and LAEP alumna Betsy Byrne, of the NPS RTCA. The students’ work is currently being refined under the stewardship of Jake Powell, LAEP Extension Landscape Architecture Specialist.

The semester’s second project focused on the 26-acre Blacksmith Fork Park at the south end of Cache Valley, in Hyrum. Students worked closely with both Ole and Dave Evans in developing a range of recreation design alternatives to serve Hyrum’s growing population. Following the studio project, Dave Evans guided an ASLA Community Design Team in selecting and combining key components of students’ work into a single master plan for the city planners to undertake. In a letter dated May 13, 2019, Hyrum city administrator Ron Salvesen stated, “We now have an excellent plan to guide our completion of the park in an organized and planned manner. The city council was pleased with the wide range of needs that will be met by this park as planned.”

The semester’s largest project was set in southern Utah and addressed an array of exciting design challenges along the eastern corridor of Zion National Park jointly with Phil Waite’s planting design studio. Over the last several years, the western gateway of Springdale has become overwhelmed by increased park visitation. In response, the Zion Friends group, Kane County, and private landowners have begun to see Zion’s eastern gateway as an alternative for some park visitors. Sponsored by Zion Mountain Ranch and Kevin and Stacey McLaws, students conducted preliminary research on issues facing gateway communities around the West, the interface between public and private lands, and strategized ways in which visitors might enjoy the area while protecting its unique qualities. During their site visit, students met with community partners and immersed themselves in the site, explored the area’s connection to Zion National Park, and stayed at Zion Mountain Ranch for several days. In response to a regional transportation study by KFH and design proposals by Design Workshop for Zion Mountain Ranch, students focused on an area identified as the Junction—located at the Intersection of State Highway 9 and North Fork County Road in a valley between Juniper and Pine covered hills—and close proximity to activity hubs of Zion Mountain Ranch and Zion National Park’s east entrance. The area is a potential location for a proposed NPS Visitor Contact Center, shuttle stop and parking area, and hub for visitor activity. Students’ design proposals illustrated alternative visions for the Junction area that incorporated agritourism, visitor amenities, and transportation facilities which they developed with input from the McLaws, Jake Powell, Dr. Carlos Licon, Design Workshop’s Jeff Zimmerman, Zion Forever’s Mark Preiss, Zion Ponderosa’s Steve Neelman, and Kane County’s Dirk Clayson.

As I worked with the students through the semester I saw them grow in their collaboration and critical thinking. They developed capacity to create experiences rather than just landscape solutions.

-- Cameron Blakely, BLA 2019, Teaching Assistant

Specifically, they illustrated how transit stops and a proposed Visitor Contact Station might be integrated into other agritourism and recreation-oriented gateway community amenities. Their designs also recommended trailhead connections, responded to existing planning/ design documents with particular focus on master planning of orchards, agriculture production and retail, outdoor event space, and vehicular, transit, bicycle, and pedestrian circulation while creating a sense of place based in a local vernacular agricultural identity. According to Jay Aguilar, regional planning director at the Five County Association of Governments, “The work the Studio provided brought ideas and concepts to life and provided a variety of potential ideas and options to the table for consideration. He and his students breathed life into important transportation solutions that will help to address perplexing challenges due to the overwhelming visitor activity in and around the eastern gateway to Zion National Park.”

The studio is a wonderful setting for students to engage in real-world design challenges and develop the collaborative design skills used in contemporary professional practice. Ole looks forward to another exciting year of projects!