November 2014 - Parks & Recreation - 53

Student-run renovations of Lions Park
in Greensboro, Alabama, included
these custom gates proclaiming the
name of the community space.

Students build almost everything
that goes into the structures, learning the consequences of the lines
they draw in the studio. " You name
it, they've done it, " says Hemstreet.
Another, more intangible lesson that
students take away is the relationship
they form with community members. Students and stakeholders work
closely to identify community needs
and develop structures that are closely attuned to those needs. That relationship with the community doesn't
end when classes are over. " They'll
get their degree and stay on another
year to see that the project's finished,
just out of the moral and ethical commitment that they've made to these
projects, " says Hemstreet. " They'll
work through the coldest winters I've
seen, and the hottest summers. "
And that commitment is something
that Hemstreet is working to honor.
The Lions Park Development Committee is working to recombine the
park's ownership in the hands of the
City of Greensboro, and establish the
community's first dedicated park and
recreation department. " The investment that the students have made, we
have to make sure that that's protected, " Hemstreet says.
Beyond the Classroom
These studios aren't just important
teaching tools for architecture students, they're important outreach
tools for the state-funded universities

Kevan Williams

well, " says Hemstreet. " Little League
would come out and use the ballfield,
but the park just kind of languished.
There wasn't anything going on out
here. " The committee approached
the Rural Studio for help.
In the fall of 2005, just after wrapping up Perry Lakes, the Rural Studio
began the first phase of its renovation
of Lions Park. First up was the ballfields. A team of students set about
rearranging the fields into a hub-andspoke configuration, with a central
shaded gathering area under some
large trees in the center of the park.
The project received a $500,000 grant
from Baseball Tomorrow, the first of
many grants to come for the park.
" The amount of money they've found
to put into this park has been absolutely phenomenal, " says Hemstreet.
Since that initial project, the Rural
Studio has carried out another nine
projects within the park, including a pavilion, restrooms, park furnishings and
a playscape. This year, students, parents,
alumni and community members gathered in the park to celebrate the opening
of three new phases: a meeting space for
the local Boy Scout troop, a fitness trail
and landscaping for the park.
The Studio's long-term relationship
with Lions Park has turned it into a
teaching space as well. " It allows the
students to come and see what's already been done and evaluate...you
can see what works and what doesn't
work, " says Cameron Acheson, a Rural Studio alumna who worked on the
playscape project before serving as
a Rural Studio instructor for several
years. The park has grown organically,
with students responding to work that's
been done previously while incorporating lessons learned into the new park
elements. " It's really amazing to see
how it transforms each year, " Acheson
says. " There's a skatepark there, and
that's something that the first team
wasn't even thinking of. "

that house them, whose missions are
often defined in three parts: teaching,
research and service. " We are a public university; we belong in the public
arena, " says Badanes.
The values that students learn in
programs like the Rural Studio and
the Neighborhood Design/Build
Studio are lessons that they'll take
with them and incorporate in other
places. Many of Badanes' students
have stuck around the Seattle area,
working in community organizations
instead of conventional architecture
firms. Even more impressive, the current that has started in these educational studios has slowly trickled into
the larger profession. Organizations
like Architecture for Humanity and
the Make It Right Foundation have
raised the profile of public service architecture and made it an increasingly compelling alternative to the celebrity-focused " starchitecture " culture
that many inside and out of the profession have criticized in recent years.
Most compellingly, these programs
have made architecture relevant
again and brought beautiful design to
communities that big firms will never
think about. " Architecture's not just
about building, it's about people, "
says Hemstreet.
Kevan Williams, MLA, is a Park Planner for
the Athens-Clarke County Leisure Services
Department in Athens, Georgia
(kevanjwilliams@gmail.com).

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Parks & Recreation

November 2014 - Parks & Recreation

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