Photo | Ed Wonsek
Design — Historic
MERIT AWARD / BSLA STEPHEN STIMSON ASSOCIATES
Forest Park Lake Forest , Illinois
Forest Park is a historic site located on a bluff along the western edge of Lake Michigan , at the heart of the Lake Forest Community . The 30-acre park parcel was set aside in the original 1857 town plan by Almerin Hotchkiss and later developed by Ossian Cole Simonds , a founder of ASLA and a member of the Prairie School of Landscape Architecture . After over a century of use , the City of Lake Forest realized the dire need to rehabilitate and enhance Simonds ’ original version for the park , which had been significantly degraded and neglected over time .
The Landscape Architect was hired to create a restoration plan that emphasized environmental responsibility , stewardship , and a deep understanding of the significance of the City ’ s cultural landscape . The result is a carefully implemented plan that takes a holistic approach to restoring the site ’ s varied landscape types with a diversified habitat throughout , and a new language for sustainable landscape infrastructure and 21st century needs that respects O . C . Simonds ’ original version .
Photo | Scott Shigley Photography
Boston Society of Landscape Architects Fieldbook
131