Olmsted Parks - Restore. Enhance. Preserve.

 

Summer 2007

Come Play at the New Iroquois Park Playground

Pack your picnic baskets and make it a day at the exciting "Play Together" Iroquois Park playground! This incredibly fun complex is the second of several to be built in Louisville metro parks. The "Play Together" playground enables all children, regardless of physical abilities, to play together.

It was the love for children and passion for parks that made it possible for Metro Parks, DREAM Foundation, Inc. and Olmsted Parks Conservancy to build this unique playground. With a total investment of $1.3 million, this area gives children a place to use their imagination and will bring the kid out in everyone!

We want to thank DREAM Foundation, Inc. founders Mitch and Meredith Barnes for bringing this idea to us five years ago. If you are interested in helping make possible the next "Play Together" playground to be built in Shawnee Park, please call 502.456.8125.

Located in the Sunnyhill area of Iroquois Park, the playground complex features:

  • Easy access to the playground
  • "Tot Lot" for younger children
  • Easy-to-enter with a wheelchair
  • Water play area
  • Soft rubber surface in the play area
  • Play features for children of all abilities
  • Shaded shelter and benches
  • Restroom facility

2007 Olmsted Honoree

The Board of Trustees of the Olmsted Parks Conservancy is pleased to announce that Senator Mitch McConnell is the 2007 recipient of the Frederick Law Olmsted Award for Distinguished Leadership.

Growing up in South Louisville, Mitch McConnell learned to appreciate what Iroquois and other public parks mean to our community. As county judge executive, he was instrumental in acquiring land which doubled the acreage of Jefferson Memorial Forest. Later, as a U.S. senator, he secured $38 million in funding for the 21st Century Parks project to add new parks and pathways along Floyds Fork corridor. This project will help make it possible for the City to complete the hundred mile trail around Metro Louisville and fortify our claim to be "The City of Parks."

Either of these contributions alone would qualify the senator for the Frederick Law Olmsted Award. But together, they show vision and active leadership that build dramatically on the legacy of the father of Louisville's historic parks. For all his contributions, Senator McConnell is a fitting recipient of our 2007 award.

The Trustees of the Olmsted Parks Conservancy agreed Senator McConnell's support of Louisville's new park initiative is a clear extension of Frederick Law Olmsted's legacy. "This is another example of Senator McConnell's long standing commitment to the people of Metro Louisville," said Bill Juckett, Chairperson of the Olmsted Parks Conservancy. It is the mission of the Olmsted Parks Conservancy to restore, enhance, and preserve Louisville's 18 historic Olmsted parks and 6 Parkways and to extend this legacy throughout Metro Louisville. Senator Mitch McConnell's strong support of the 21st Century Parks initiative makes him a deserving recipient of the Frederick Law Olmsted Award for 2007. Please join us at the ninth annual Halloween Ball Friday, October 26 at which time Senator McConnell will be honored.

New Interpretive Trail for Cherokee Park

Over the last two years, volunteers have donated their time and talent to restore a trail in Cherokee Park. And just recently, the volunteers - including many families, individuals, and members of Wild Ones nature group - joined workers from the Olmsted Parks Conservancy and Metro Parks to install trail signs that teach hikers about Kentucky's diversity of native wildflowers and trees.

The "Wildflower Woods" trail is located within an area where the Conservancy has led the removal of invasive plants. The invasive underbrush unfortunately has grown vigorously since the 1974 tornado uprooted thousands of protective cover trees. Removing the chokehold of the invasive plants permits the re-growth of native plants that flourished in the parks in Frederick Law Olmsted's time.

"Thanks in large part to volunteers and generous donors, we've opened a beautiful area full of wildflowers that were catalogued in the early 1900s, but have not been seen in decades," said Bill Juckett, Olmsted Parks Conservancy Chairman of the Board.

Hikers, runners and walkers of all ages can enjoy this peaceful trail and learn about the native bushes, trees and wildflowers, thanks to interpretive signs provided through a generous donation from Cotton + Allen, certified public accountants and advisors. "We have always been committed to improving the quality of life in Louisville," said Gwen Tilton of Cotton +Allen. "Both Cotton + Allen and the Olmsted Parks Conservancy have strong roots in Louisville and we see this partnership as an investment that will preserve our heritage for future generations."

The generosity of all who volunteered will be greatly appreciated by park users. Thank you to them and to Cotton + Allen. This "Wildflower Woods" trail is part of the Olmsted Parks Conservancy's $5 million Woodlands Restoration project to restore Cherokee and Seneca Parks to their pre-tornado beauty.

Welcome Mimi!

The new President/CEO of Olmsted Parks Conservancy Mimi Zinniel arrived June 11 ready to go. By the time Mimi started her new position she had already spent a freezing cold morning pulling weeds with the Park Champions; walked the new wildflower woods trail; toured the city with several board members to learn about the Olmsted parks and parkways; and volunteered at our booth at the Cherokee Triangle Art Fair. After an extensive national search we found our new President/CEO right here in Louisville. She brings to the position an excellent educational background and broad business experience. She has a BA from Ripon College, where she graduated cum laude, and was Phi Beta Kappa. She also earned an MA from Tufts University and an MBA from Stanford University Business School. For the past 26 years she held a variety of managerial positions at Brown-Forman Corporation, which she joined after leaving Stanford. Earlier in her career, Mimi worked as the Development Director at ACCION International, a Massachusetts-based agency that focused on increasing employment and improving community conditions in Latin America.

In addition to her business and management skills, Mimi is an avid gardener, reader, lover of the arts, and community volunteer. She currently serves on the boards of directors of Junior Achievement and the Community Foundation of Louisville, where she chairs the Grants Committee. She has a record of working well with people in the business and non-profit organizations and has found great success with her collaborative and consensus-building management style. The Conservancy has found the person with the experience and personal strengths to lead the organization as it fulfills its mission to restore, enhance, and preserve the Olmsted-designed parks in Louisville.

Park Champion

You don't have to work in the park to be a "Park Champion". Just a few years ago Jerrye Davis and her husband moved to Louisville from Pensacola, Florida to spend more time with their grandchildren. Jerrye was looking for a meaningful volunteer opportunity with a cause she supported; VolunteerMatch.org helped her find Olmsted Parks Conservancy.

Jerrye comes to our office each Wednesday to help with membership and donor mailings. She has also volunteered at National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, AARP Tax-Aide program, Ronald McDonald House and the 2007 Senior Games. And still has plenty of time for fun with the grandchildren!

Jerrye is but one of our many volunteers whose activities range from office work to tree planting to park restoration. If you are interested in volunteering your time, please contact Sarah Wolff at 456-1623 or sarah.wolff@olmstedparks.org.

How Rain Gardens and Barrels Help Water Quality

Olmsted Parks Conservancy is in the midst of several natural areas restoration projects to improve erosion and the water quality of our park streams. So it's no wonder that the Conservancy is a big fan of rain gardens and rain barrels!

Rain Gardens
A rain garden is a shallow depression, planted with native plants, designed to slow, capture and collect rain runoff from our roofs, driveways, and lawns. Rain gardens work for us in many ways:

  • Reduce the amount of runoff and pollutants washing into our streams
  • Help to improve water quality for aquatic creatures
  • Help sustain water flow in our community's streams during dry weather
  • Reduce the chance of flooding in our community
  • Help protect the banks of creeks and streams from the eroding effects of large volumes of water traveling at high speeds
  • Reduce the necessity and cost of storm water treatment facilities

Look around your yard and see how you might build your own rain garden and help streams around your home. If your yard is too small or steep to accommodate a rain garden, consider installing a rain barrel.

Rain Barrels
A rain barrel, connected to a downspout on your home, collects rainwater, which is perfect for watering your garden. This is a great ay to keep storm water out of the sewer system and to cut down our water bill. There are a variety of rain garden designs and rain barrels available.