Olmsted Parks - Restore. Enhance. Preserve.

 

Summer 2005

Olmsted Center progressing toward fall completion

Adapting and transforming the Creason property “Pool House” into the first real home for the Olmsted Parks Conservancy has become part of the daily mission for Board Chair Bill Juckett. With work progressing in a timely manner, it seems that his quest is nearing an end.

The Creason property has long been home to the Metro Parks Department and for many years the “Pool House” was used by the athletics department. Many local runners remember it as the place to sign up for the mini-marathon and a host of other races that Metro Parks facilitated and staffed. Anyone who ever visited will recall the maze of paneled rooms, overhead garage doors and locker room-ish restrooms. The building’s roof was replaced in 2002 and at the same time Metro Parks completed some site improvements to alleviate drainage issues, but all other aspects of the building must be addressed.

The Pool or Bath House was one of several outbuildings that were part of the Ben Collings Estate purchased by the City from Bellarmine College in 1966. The mansion was constructed in 1944, some seven years following Mr. Collings’ purchase of the property, on the site of the original 18 room home that burned shortly after Collings became the owner. Construction of the Pool House is thought to have been in 1920s or 30s. Just beyond where the pool was stands a small family cemetery that dates back to the 1700s.

The Conservancy had been searching for a home for a number of years. According to Juckett, “We really began to outgrow the accommodations Metro Parks provides for us during the mid-90s when our staff expanded thanks to a Wallace-Reader’s Digest grant. We had some preliminary hopes of relocating to an Olmsted Park but costs were prohibitive.”

“Since we work so closely with Metro Parks and share Susan Rademacher’s time, it made sense that our offices should be somewhat nearby” said Kate Chandler, Executive Vice President. “It seemed a perfect spot, just the right size for our staff and yet still within the Metro Parks campus.”

Conservancy Trustees first approached interim Parks Director Clay Campbell about relocating to the pool house in early 2003 and began negotiations for a long term lease with the City. Complete renovation of the 2,500 square foot building will free up much-needed administrative space for Metro Parks’ use in their main headquarters building and will give the Conservancy its very first private quarters.

Trustee Rowland Miller, an architect and designer, has been an invaluable guiding force for the project. Trustee Bryan Russell arranged for construction management through NTS, giving the project professional oversight.

“We basically started with a shell. The roof and exterior walls have remained fairly intact along with some of the plumbing and electrical, but other than that it will be a totally recreated space” said Bill Juckett. The building is sprinkled with unique historical elements including lovely sculptures which flank the west entrance, and two circular leaded glass windows that will be the focal point of the entrance hall. Great care is being taken to preserve these interesting elements and incorporate them into the design and décor of the building.

The Olmsted Center, a new moniker for the space, will house not only Conservancy staff, but will provide an area for archival materials. “It will be such an advantage to have all our materials and resources under one roof. We look forward to assisting people who are interested in Olmsted by providing a place where they can read and examine historic plans, photographs and documents on each of the 18 Olmsted Parks and Parkways” said Rademacher, Conservancy President.

Halloween Gala to feature 1930s Hollywood glamour

Congresswoman Anne Northup to receive Olmsted Leadership Award

The Golden Age of Film will be the theme of the seventh annual Outrageous Halloween Party, to be held on Saturday, October 29 th at The Olmsted, 3701 Frankfort Avenue. Guests at this year’s Conservancy fundraiser may find themselves rubbing elbows with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars of the 30s and 40s or dancing cheek to cheek to the music of the Big Band Era.

The presentation of the Frederick Law Olmsted Award for Distinguished leadership is the centerpiece of the event which serves as the Conservancy’s largest fundraiser. “A park neighbor and avid park user, Congresswoman Northup has made a foremost contribution to the Conservancy’s mission during the past three years. Thanks in part to the Congresswoman’s guidance, the Conservancy has successfully competed for federal funding on six important projects which are vital to the longevity of our historic parks system” said Kate Chandler, Executive Vice President.

Signing on as Platinum Sponsor for the 2005 event is the Humana Foundation, with additional major support to date coming from Ford Motor Company, Marker’s Mark, Fifth Third Bank, Hillard Lyons and National City Bank. John Shaver, Conservancy Trustee, is serving as this year’s Fundraising Chair and the party committee is in experienced hands with Kelley Bright and Kirk Stone serving as co-chairs.

Each year the crowd gets more creative with their attire for the evening, and this year’s theme promises to bring out the glamour in our guests. This is one fundraiser you won’t want to miss, so make plans now to join one of the most memorable parties of the year and give the beautiful Olmsted Parks a helping hand. Call the Conservancy office at 456-8125 for more information.

Conservancy’s members preserve the enduring legacy.

Have you renewed your membership?

The Olmsted Parks count on the support and concern of Louisvillians from all corners of our metro area. Without the leadership and financial backing of private individuals, the Olmsted Parks and Parkways would have never been built. It was those forward thinking souls of the 1890’s who brought Frederick Law Olmsted to our city, to help turn their dreams of a city anchored by large parks into a reality.

Today, our community takes great pride in the green gems laid out over a century ago by the father of landscape architecture, and Olmsted’s principles lead the designs for the new family of parks that are cropping up across our community. It is through your generosity and commitment that some of our most treasured resources still stand as tranquil places of relaxation and open spaces for recreation. Take a moment to lend your support to the work of the Conservancy. We need each of you to help if we are to sustain the Olmsted Parks and Parkways for the next 100 years. Mail the enclosed membership form in today.

Landscape restoration projects

Landscape Project Dates

Cherokee Park

Chauffeur's Rest Restoration Site
September 10, October 1, November 5, December 3
9:00 a.m. - Noon
Meet at the Chauffeur's Rest parking lot on Barrett Hill Road, between Sulgrave & Gray Fox Roads near the tennis courts.
Nettelroth Bird Sanctuary Restoration Site
September 17, October 15, November 19, December 17
9:00 a.m. - Noon
Meet at the parking area on Beargrass Road near the bridge at the base of Barrett Hill Road.

Shawnee’s riverfront vistas get boost from Wal-Mart team

A lot can be accomplished in a short time when there are hundreds of volunteers willing to assist. Thanks to the efforts of Wal-Mart employees from the Louisville and Southern Indiana area, Shawnee Park was transformed into a beehive of activity on June 21st. Over 250 associates and family members descended on Shawnee Park with rakes and shovels in hand to be part of the large one day volunteer project undertaken as Wal-Mart’s Day of Service 2005.

Although the majority of the volunteers were involved with mulching trees throughout the park and at nearby Shawnee Golf Course, Conservancy Naturalist, Alan Nations arranged for a large group to work with him along the riverfront. “We needed to spend time re-planting the slopes down from the park to the Riverwalk as part of the ongoing project to reclaim Shawnee’s River Vistas” stated Nations. “The Conservancy’s summer interns spent a couple days working the area before the volunteers arrived, but still I was amazed at the amount of work the Wal-Mart group was able to complete in just a few short hours. We put in hundreds of new plants and removed invasives, which all requires lots of hands on work.”

In addition to improving the appearance and health of the park, the group was also on hand for the dedication of two new tennis courts completed this summer in the park’s Sports Complex. Funded jointly by the Conservancy and Metro Parks, the new hard surface courts located along Southwestern Parkway are a welcome addition to the area, replacing deteriorated courts which were removed several years ago.

Botanist discovers plant treasures in Cherokee

“Plants respond in a variey of ways to disturbance of their habitats. Some thrive and reproduce, others die and are replaced by species better adapted to the new conditions.” Weeds of Kentucky and Adjacent States, by Patricia Dalton Haragan.

Surveying the flora of Cherokee Park has produced some unexpected results for Pat Haragan, local botanist, working with the Woodlands Restoration Project. Conducting field studies throughout the 409 acres of Cherokee Park and documenting the herbaceous flora found there is just one aspect of the Conservancy’s field work currently underway in Cherokee Park. “The Conservancy staff had mapped out the parks and divided Cherokee into eleven management areas. Since April, I have been going into each of those areas and documenting the plants I find. Although the emphasis has been in studying the herbaceous layer, we have included some woody plants, especially invasive shrubs and vines, into our work as well.”

The Woodlands Restoration project is fortunate to have Haragan as a member of the team. She studied botany and horticulture Ohio State University and has worked at institutions such as the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, the National Audubon Society, and the New York Botanical Garden Herbarium. She is a published author of two books and has written numerous articles focused on the weed flora of Kentucky and southeastern United States.

In order to properly define management strategies and techniques for long term care of the park, it is necessary to properly identify what species of plants exist. In the case of invasives, identification is the first step in formulating a plan to control their spread.

An invaluable resource for Haragan has been the 1941 master thesis of Mabel Slack. A teacher at Atherton High School, Slack undertook the documentation of the flora of Cherokee Park as the topic for the Master of Science degree she was pursuing at Cornell University. “The flora of the park has changed dramatically since Mabel began her research in September, 1937 due to a combination of circumstances including the 1974 tornado. I have found many plants that Mabel had no record of, while other plants that were rare during this time have not been located and possibly have vanished from the park.”

Some unwanted species, like lesser celandine (Ranunculus ficaria), are growing abundantly in the park. This attractive yellow-flowered buttercup was introduced into the U.S. as an ornamental groundcover. Considered rare throughout Kentucky, it is locally invasive and found in every Management Area growing in low, open fields as well as shady woodlands.

Another, Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) was not even mentioned in the 1941 study, but now is the dominant understory shrub and is considered to be one of the worst woody weeds throughout Kentucky.

As part of Haragan’s work, she is collecting herbarium specimens of the plants found in each area. Documenting each area throughout the field season will provide Haragan and the Conservancy with invaluable information as to what species were present at this particular period of time as well as pertinent ecological data.

There have been a few delightful finds during Haragan’s work thus far. “In the late spring I came across, Putty-Root ( Aplectrum hyemale ), a member of the Orchid Family. It grows about 24 inches tall and produces a loose cluster of greenish-purple flowers on a leafless stalk. I only found two plants this spring in the rich, moist woods of Cherokee, but hopefully as the Woodlands work progresses and these areas are returned to their natural habitats, more native plants will appear.”

New kiosk adds to enhancements in Big Rock area

The Olmsted Parks Conservancy recently completed work in Cherokee Park’s Big Rock area by removing overgrown invasive plants and restoring the viewshed across Beargrass Creek to the pavilion. An attractive addition to the area is a cedar kiosk that will serve as an information source for park users.

This area has seen a number of enhancements which have improved accessibility and safety over the last three years and now with the recent restoration, beautiful limestone cliffs have been uncovered on the uphill slope toward Alta Vista Road. Research conducted by the Conservancy has revealed that rock outcrops such as these harbor remnant plant communities and are one of the park’s most sensitive environmental areas. Additional plantings in the fall will further enhance the quality of the woodlands and improve the habitat here as well.

The parking lot and trail on the north side of Beargrass Creek had been a plagued by flooding for years which resulted in pooling water and erosion. In 2002, Metro Parks and the Conservancy undertook a project that removed the old gravel surface and installed interlocking pavers designed with open spaces, which allow the water to be absorbed into the ground more readily and prevents the parking area from being washed out. In addition, native plants were added and a no-mow area was established along the creek bank to help reduce erosion and runoff into the creek.

A joint project between the Conservancy, Kentucky Waterways Alliance and MSD, one side of the kiosk will be dedicated to Conservancy and Metro Parks information and park maps, and the Alliance will use the other for water quality updates. Most of the work to construct the kiosk was completed by Fern Creek resident Chris Lambert as an eagle scout service project.

“This trail is a popular one with bikers, hikers and families headed to Big Rock. We’ve stabilized the trails, designated the lower trail along the creek for pedestrian use and the upper trail for mountain bikers. The two join together further north” noted Alan Nations, volunteer coordinator for the Conservancy. “The kiosk will help us educate park users and really designates this area as the trail head. With the help of volunteers, eagle scouts and our summer interns, the Conservancy has built on Metro Parks’ earlier work to restore the area surrounding the trail to a much healthier condition.”