ESF Students to Present Park Designs on November 1

The public is invited to welcome landscape architecture students from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry on Monday evening, November 1, 2010 at 6:30 PM at the Montezuma Town Hall.  The students will share their visions for the proposed development of 140 acres of town-owned parkland with historic and natural resources in the Town of Montezuma. 

On October 1, 2010, forty-three ESF students and college staff made a preliminary visit to tour the park site followed by a meeting with design committee  members at the town hall for the purpose of developing design ideas for the Heritage Park. The design process was initiated by Supervisor John Malenick, a graduate of the ESF collage. He contacted ESF's Center for Community Design Research to request design assistance from landscape architecture faculty and students to help prepare design studies.  He realized that the time had come to look at the potential the parkland held economically and recreational for the community.  

It was important to the supervisor that community members be involved in the park design process from the very early stages, and he requested in February 2010 the town board appoint a design committee and encouraged interested residents to become involved. The primary goal for the design committee working with the students was to look for ways to approach the park development based on an understanding of community values and needs, as well as an analysis of park site conditions and Erie Canal history to use as the basis of dialogue with the broader community. Academically, the primary goals were to provide an opportunity for design students to learn and practice skills of engaging community members in the design process, to understand the important roles that community members have in creating place-appropriate designs, and to apply emerging design and graphic skills on a project that would benefit our community.

It is anticipated that the collaboration between the landscape architecture students and the Town of Montezuma community will produce a series of useful outcomes, including site analysis and inventory, preliminary lists of activities and program, and alternative design ideas around which to base in-depth design proposals.  Most importantly, it is the intent of the Design Committee that this will begin the process of additional involvement within the  community members and encourage dialogue and participation to encourage development and pride in the community.

Come and see what the students have designed. Community members will have an opportunity to offer suggestions on their designs ideas and the students will return with the final project in a few weeks. This is the beginning of a community dialogue to have input on the development of the park.