Photo Credit: Courtesy of ILT Vignocchi, Inc.
“Traditional beginnings, beginnings of traditions” is how the design team began to describe the new park. Located only a block away from historic downtown Libertyville in Illinois, the park had its origins with the village’s inception in the 1830s.
As envisioned, the park is open green space with a small children’s area on one side and Milwaukee Ave.—a four-lane road—bookending the other. Used primarily by the adjacent church during its school recess, village officials wanted to transform the park into a multi-functional space that could host several annual village events. The intention was to help relieve the congestion and overuse of the historic Adler Park Square—the center of downtown—and be the beginning of new village traditions.
Phase 1: Functional-Use Diagram
As with any new park design, it’s critical to start with a Functional-Use Diagram (FUD) to consider the long-term goals for a park. This FUD prevents the inclusion of random elements, and helps connect all of the required components seamlessly. During initial meetings, it was clear that village officials had a clear vision of what they wanted for this park; a farmer’s market, an Out to Lunch event, the Pumpkin Fest, and a stage (amphitheater) for concerts were just a few of the program elements to be included. After years of hosting these events at Adler Park, overuse had caused substantial ground compaction, which in turn led to the decay of many key trees as well as stress to the lawn.