City Parks Association

Tools and Strategies for Sustaining Our Parks

October 21, 2000
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
600 S. 43rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

The City Parks Association brought together community activists, nature lovers from city and suburbs, parks-related professionals and laypersons to focus on how to protect and increase the assets that our parks provide, and assure their continuing contribution to our quality of life.

Introduction

Councilman Michael Nutter

Keynote Address

Urban Parks: Understanding Sustainability from a Human Perspective, Robert L. Ryan, Assistant Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Assessment: Identifying the Needs of the Site (concurrent sessions)

Panel A: Smaller Urban Interior Parks

• Anita Toby Lager, Landscape Architect, Lager, Raabe Landscape Architects
• J. Morgan Grove, USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station
• Kathy Madden, Director, Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Urban Parks Institute

Panel B: Multi-Acre Forested Parks

• Mark A. Focht, Natural Lands Restoration Manager and Tom Whitmer, Project Coordinator, Fairmount Park Commission, Natural Lands Restoration and Environmental Education Program
• Mary Fox, Vice President for Capital and Planning, Prospect Park, Brooklyn
• Fred Kent, Founder, Project for Public Spaces

Developing Strategies and Setting Priorities

• Martha Leigh Wolf, Director, Historic Bartram’s Garden
• John Boyce, President, Friends of Gorgas Park
• Nelson Cheung, CitySpace Project Manager for the City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development
• Erana M. Stennett, Vice President for Government & Community Relations Central Park Conservancy, New York

Taking Action: Finding and Making Partnerships that Work (concurrent sessions)

Panel A: Smaller Urban Interior Parks

• Joan M. Reilly, Program Manager, Philadelphia Green
• Barbara McCabe, Department of Recreation
• Ken Kolodziej, KJK Associates (a landscape consulting firm)
• Meg Cheever, President, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

Panel B: Multi-Acre Forested Parks

• Gerry Kaufman, Executive director, Awbury Arboretum Association
• Peter Williamson, Director of Land Acquisition, Natural Lands Trust, Inc.
• Eric Tamulonis, Senior Associate, Wallace, Roberts & Todd, LLC

In for the Long Haul: Setting Measures for Monitoring Change

• Kathryn, T. Newland, Manager, Public Landscapes, The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society
• Nancy Q. O’Donnell, Project Manager, Philadelphia Green
• Shane Brooks, Ph. D., Department of Biology, University of Maryland
• Amy Frietag, Peter Godfrey, Fairmount Park Commission

Conclusion

An impressive mix of advocates and professionals, from high-schoolers to all concerned with ongoing stewardship of our urban parks, met together at Beyond Raking, City Parks Association’s Regional Parks Institute 2000. Fred Kent of Philadelphia Parks, a Co-convener, helped bring together over 100 participants and 30 presenters for a stimulating day, Saturday, October 2, examining the tools and strategies to maintain, preserve, and grow our urban parks.

City Councilman Michael Nutter kicked off the day, introducing keynoter Robert L. Ryan, co-author of With People in Mind: Design and Management of Everyday Nature. Ryan provided an overview of his research results, identifying key elements of park planning, design, and management, and discussing how people attach to their parks. In continuing sessions throughout the day, panelists helped identify and discuss the needs of both smaller urban park sites and multi-acre forested parks, developing strategies and setting priorities for change and progress. Bonus lunchtime sessions included a tour of neighboring Clark Park with two of its supporting partners and a workshop on matching projects to funding withour Pensylvania DCNR representative, Don Gephard. Speakers and participants alike raved about their interactions with others at the conference.