West Louisville Outdoor Recreation Initiative feature in WLA Magazine

WLA MAGAZINE

30 | MARCH 2017

DIGITAL $USD4.99 |1| PRINT $USD16.00

West Louisville Outdoor Recreation Initiative

Project

MKSK

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Louisville, Kentucky, is recognized for its fantastic system of parks and open space with significant opportunities for outdoor activities that promote community health and quality of life, yet access to these types of recreation activities is not equitable across the city. The West Louisville Outdoor Recreation Initiative Master Plan is rooted in Louisville Metro Parks’ recent efforts to respond to inequities related to access to nature in Louisville. The initiative envisions that all children and their families have hope for a better future through connection to the outdoors and seeks to benefit residents of West Louisville by expanding opportunities for children and families to experience nature within their own neighborhoods. The West Louisville Outdoor Recreation Initiative is a holistic effort to help address broader community issues of environmental sustainability, health and wellness, education attainment, and access to green jobs through the creation of outdoor infrastructure and expansion of complementary programming.

Located along the banks of the Ohio River in West Louisville, Shawnee Park, Chickasaw Park, and Portland Wharf Park are viewed as vital opens spaces within the community that are also historically significant, with Chickasaw and Shawnee Parks designed by Olmsted dating back to the end of the 19th century. This initiative considered the historic context, existing comprehensive plans, community engagement, and the goals of Louisville Metro Parks in creating specific recommendations outlined in three separate master plans for each park.

The master planning process included public engagement and consensus building through internet and paper surveys, stakeholder group sessions, open houses, presentations,

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and public meetings to help determine the most popular and most desired nature-based recreational opportunities in the community. The master plans for the three parks and designs of unique destinations and spaces within each park all promote the goals of interaction and accessibility through carefully planned circulation and programming.

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Chickasaw Park One area of focus for Chickasaw Park was the Chickasaw Pond which suffers from issues such as drainage problems affecting the walking path, lack of seating areas, water lotus clogging the water surface, lack of parking, lack of restroom facilities, and poor water quality. Recommended pond improvements promote the area as a location for fishing, canoe and kayak training, wildlife observation, and leisure walking along the perimeter. Pond renovations included increasing the pond size, building four unique fishing piers and a hovering boardwalk for pond access, improving perimeter paths, creating seating and observation areas, and creating shelved pond edges to support native plant and wildlife along the pond perimeter. A new aviary garden and trail along the banks of the Ohio River provides a path for wildlife observation and a constructed bird blind structure for observing bird migration throughout the river corridor.

Chicksaw Park | Site Plan

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Shawnee Park The designed spaces within Shawnee Park provide dynamic activity spaces for all ages and abilities. The Woodland Play area serves as a gesture to encourage children, parents, and the entire community to engage the landscape, recreate in a beautiful outdoor environment, and learn to socialize at one’s individual pace.

The play area is envisioned with inclusive play and accessibility, from ADA access and wheelchair-friendly surfaces to a playscape that accommodates all ability levels of children, at the forefront of the design. The area balances natural activity elements strategically to promote continuous play and interaction with areas for sensory rest within the playscape area. In the northern section of the park, an Extreme Play Forest includes a soil woodland bike trail with a sculpted trail that is carefully designed for all ages and weaves through the wooded area.

A key component of the West Louisville Outdoor Recreation Initiative is the Shawnee Outdoor Learning Center, which will occupy the renovated Ball House in Shawnee Park. The Shawnee Outdoor Learning Center will provide a satellite location in West Louisville for Louisville Metro Parks’ Natural Areas Division to provide naturebased education, recreation, and stewardship programming. This center is intended to build neighborhood exploration of the outdoors and will also serve to develop local volunteer and mentoring capacity.

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Shawnee Park | Site Plan

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Portland Wharf Park This master plan recommends clearing and removal of understory vegetation and invasive species to open the woodland for views, access, and safety for visitors. The concept of “ghost streets” results from clearing areas along former streets within the park to convey the experience of the historic streetscape corridors. Trails within the woodland will meander through the trees and reconnect with the “ghost streets” at several moments. An Art Walk Forest is designed as a quiet pathway that meanders throughout the existing woodland canopy and encounters art and sculptures to be designed by local artists. Several primitive camping areas satisfy a desired outdoor program opportunity in the community and will be utilized by local school and community groups for overnight camping trip experiences for children and families.

Portland Wharf | Site Plan

West Louisville Outdoor Recreation Initiative Location | Louisville, Kentucky Design Firm | MKSK Consultants | Booker Design Collaborative, BA Engineers, Studio Kremer Architects, Corn Island Archaeology LLC, Tetra Tech Image & Text Credits | MKSK

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