Central’s redesigned Charles V. Park Library landscape has been chosen to
receive one of five merit awards from the Michigan chapter of the American
Society of Landscape Architects.

The URS Corporation and Project Manager Mark Wrona, who has collaborated
with Campus Space Planner Peter Gorton, has been planning the design for
about five years. The URS corporation is a full-service architectural, landscaping
and engineering firm.

Wrona said the project cost for the Phase II operation cost roughly $1.2
million and was completed in 16 months. Although completed in 2002, the plans
were submitted for June and accepted in late August.

Designed with simplification in mind, Wrona said the improvements were focused on safety.

“In the 70s, the area was originally designed for privacy, with many non-lit areas,” he said.

Tom Prenkert, manager of Landscape Operations, said the alterations are an improvement.

“The area is more pleasing to the eye, with more interaction, and more traffic flow,” he said.

Many existing campus memorials were incorporated into the design, along
with nearly three acres of grass, 350 shrubs, 175 mature trees and more than
10,000 plants that flower at different times of the year.

These include Balsam firs, Chicago Apache day lilies, European larch,
Russian sage and many other plants not native to the area.

Judges for the awards came from the Minnesota chapter of the American
Society of Landscape Architects to avoid conflict of interest in Michigan.
They judged on the quality of design, the functional success, the context
or relationship to surroundings and overall significance to profession and
environment, Wrona said.

Central received a score of four out of five on quality and significance
and five out of five on success and relationship. One judge commented on
“good design constraint and good understanding of how people use space.”

Another said “I feel that the central walkway is quite strong because
of its simplicity. It has the feel of promenade, which ideally was not only
a place to walk, but also a place to gather and interact.”

On Sept. 26, Wrona will accept two of five awards from ASLA, one of them
on behalf of Central and another from East Grand Rapids. He is working on
other Facilities Management plans for improving campus, including future
building and general improvement cites.

E-mail the author: Liz Smigelski