Greenwood Park and Baton Rouge Zoo Approved for Phase One Implementation
Phase one of the transformational park and zoo project will move forward
Flipping the Script on Conservation and Community Involvement in Park Design
Sasaki landscape architects Anna Cawrse, ASLA, PLA and Joshua Brooks, ASLA, PLA delve into stories of ecological conservation and community engagement in the latest issue of Parks & Recreation. Cawrse and Brooks detail the master planning process for Greenwood Community Park in Baton Rouge, LA, and Cawrse discusses processes for transforming urban infrastructure at Bonnet Springs Park in Lakeland, Florida.
Greenwood Community Park, for which Phase One Implementation has been approved, seeks to enhance a community asset in an area of Baton Rouge that has seen out-migration, less investment, and loss of institutions. Working with the Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge (BREC), Sasaki designers embarked on an intensive, multi-faceted engagement process to ensure that the master plan for the park reflected the community’s vision. The 660-acre park includes the Baton Rouge Zoo, which the community strongly advocated for. Learn more about the partnership Sasaki developed with the community in Parks & Recreation, here.
The Greenwood Community Park team prioritized bringing a multitude of perspectives to the table to inform their design
Cawrse also discusses ecological conservation underway at Bonnet Springs Park. The site, which has been dubbed Florida’s new Central Park, is currently undergoing remediation to transform the derelict brownfield into a vibrant, community park. Sasaki designers have also developed a stormwater management strategy that will restore the park’s ecology and serve as a teaching tool for community members to engage with. Read more about the plan’s civic stewardship in Parks & Recreation, here.
The remediation process at Bonnet Springs Park is currently underway. For scale: the small object in the upper left is a person. Photo courtesy of associate principal Andrew Gutterman.
