2018 Annual WASLA Conference

Motif Seattle, March 16, 2018

4:15 - 5:15 pm
Volunteer Park: Preserving and Restoring Seattle's Iconic Olmsted Landscape

Description:

Volunteer Park is arguably the crown jewel of Seattle's Olmsted system of parks and boulevards. Designed from the ground up by John Charles Olmsted over 100 years ago, it represents the most complete example of an Olmsted design intervention in Seattle, including complete grading and planting plans. It is equally notable for its role in Seattle's historic water system, with the Olmsted design responding to the previously installed Water Tower and reservoir. Beginning with a summary of the park's history, our panel will share the story of how the Friends of Seattle's Olmsted Parks successfully nominated it as a Seattle landmark, with resulting controls and incentives. Describing how we founded the Volunteer Park Trust in 2012, we'll chart our achievements and goals for preserving and restoring the park planting and infrastructure. Lastly, we'll compare and contrast the new organization to the Central Park Conservancy and other nation-wide park conservancy initiatives.

Lead Speaker:

Brooks Kolb, ASLA

Speaker Bios:

Brooks Kolb, ASLA, Principal, Brooks Kolb LLC Landscape Architecture
Brooks Kolb, ASLA, is the principal of Brooks Kolb, LLC Landscape Architecture, a Seattle firm specializing in residential garden design. Brooks is a licensed landscape architect with over 35 years of experience, including advocacy for park preservation and master planning. He is a founding member of the Volunteer Park Trust; past president of the Friends of Seattle's Olmsted Parks; and is a past president of both the Northern California Chapter, ASLA, and the Washington Chapter (WASLA). Brooks co-chaired the Columbia City Climate Co-op Feasibility Study, funded by the Seattle Dept. of Neighborhoods, in 2010. With projects published in the Seattle Times Pacific NW magazine and several other publications, Brooks lectures occasionally on the theory and practice of garden design.

Brian Giddens, LICSW, ACSW, Chair, Volunteer Park Trust
Brian Giddens, LICSW, ACSW, has served as Chair of the Volunteer Park Trust Steering Committee since 2016. He has also served as a board member of the Seattle Parks Foundation since 2010. Aside from his volunteer work, Brian works as an Assistant Administrator in Patient Care Services at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, WA, overseeing several support programs such as Social Work and Care Coordination, Palliative Care, Interpreter Services, Patient Family Housing and Clinical Resource Management. Brian also is a Clinical Professor in the University of Washington School of Social Work.

Doug Bayley, Past Chair, Volunteer Park Trust
Doug Bayley was a founder of the Volunteer Park Trust and Landscape Chair involving the restoration of the plantings in the park. He is also a member The Volunteer Park Sustainability Coalition working on the infrastructure and recycling of water in Volunteer Park. After a 35 year career with his own design/build business, he has been the first curator of Dunn Gardens, an eight acre Olmsted designed Garden and involved in many horticultural groups, including the Friends of Seattle’s Olmsted Parks. Lately he has become involved with the Bloedel Reserve, as vice-president and chair of the Grounds Committee.

Jennifer Ott, Historian, Member, History Link and Steering Committee Member, Volunteer Park Trust
Jennifer Ott, historian, is a past president of Friends of Seattle's Olmsted Parks and is currently the assistant director of HistoryLink.org and a Volunteer Park Trust steering committee member. She is an environmental historian who has written about the history of Seattle's Olmsted parks and other topics in Washington history for HistoryLink.org, Seattle magazine, and the Oregon Historical Quarterly. She is the co-author, with David B. Williams, of Waterway: The Story of Seattle's Locks and Ship Canal.

Learning Objectives:

Acquire a basic understanding of the features of the Olmsted park design philosophy and practice, as implemented in the Pacific Northwest. Learn how grass-roots neighborhood park advocates and "friends of" groups can actively organize to preserve and restore historically significant urban parks. Learn how public-private partnerships can leverage opportunities to preserve and maintain historic parks, ie. the private Volunteer Park Trust and Seattle Parks Foundation with the public Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation and Board of Landmark Preservation. Acquire an understanding of the limits of planting preservation versus planting restoration, given the dynamic nature and growth of the urban forest.