Cascades Park : a preservation and recreation development plan, Bloomington, Indiana

• Main Author: Coffman, James D.
• Other Authors: Potteiger, Matthew R.
• Format: Others
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Parks > Indiana > Planning.; Parks > Indiana > Design and construction.; Parks > Indiana > Bloomington.; Cascades Park (Ind.)
• Online Access: http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/183048; http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/507990

This creative project produced a Development Plan for the 60-year-old 200+ acre Cascades Park in Bloomington, Indiana. Combining principles of historic preservation with passive forms of unfacilitized recreation provided the framework for the final design concepts. The final product was the actual master development plan and 11 other 30" x 40" sheets that illustrated a thorough inventory and analysis of the park and its context, suitabilities of the park for specific forms of recreation, concepts, and graphic illustrations. The inventory and analysis sheets have sought to identify the unique character of the park that came about from two distinct sources: 1) The natural environment that spawned the interest for the area to become a park in 1924 and, 2) The park amenities in the forms of shelters, retaining walls, play equipment, water wells, drives, etc. that were added in the past 60 years indicating man's impact upon the area. The design concepts for the park emphasized and protected this unique character. The extent of information, both written and graphic, on the 12 sheets was intended to provide the information without needing an accompanying booklet or oral explanation from the designer. In addition to the site-specific information that was illustrated in the maps, general information was also required. To understand the social framework that was responsible for the creation of Cascades Park and other parks of the time, park planning principles of the 1920's were researched. These were then compared and applied where possible to the historic development of Cascades Park. Also, developmental criteria were established for forms of recreation that were found to be in demand in Bloomington and had the potential of being accommodated in the park with a minimal disruption of its natural beauty. === Department of Landscape Architecture