BREAKING: Lawrence Halprin-designed Park Central Square added to the National Register of Historic Places

The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) issued a press release February 17, 2010, to announce the addition of Park Central Square to the National Register of Historic Places.

According to TCLF, Springfield is now the location of the first work by landcape architect designer Lawrence Halprin to be added to the National Register. The designation was made official by Director of the National Park Service Jon Jarvis on February 5, 2010.

"This followed a decision on January 25, 2010, by Ms. Carol Shull, the Acting Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places, to approve the boundary expansion of the Springfield Public Square historic district to include Park Central Square," the press release stated.

Founder and President of TCLF Charles A. Birnbaum indicated Director of the Missouri State Historic Preservation Office Mark Miles notified him of the designation. It was the Missouri State Historic Preservation Office which prepared and submitted the National Register nomination to the National Park Service.

"This is great news for Springfield and for Mr. Halprin’s legacy. The city should be touting their progressiveness, possessing the first, nationally designated landscape on the National Register of Historic Places by Mr. Halprin," Birnbaum wrote in an email.

From the news release:

The addition of Park Central Square to the National Register is an important milestone in recognizing the important legacy of modernist landscape architecture and the career of Lawrence Halprin,” said TCLF president Charles A. Birnbaum. “This is significant since only two years ago the Square was headed for destruction.”

Birnbaum was also happy to announce the launch of an oral history project with Mr. Halprin. He indicated the project had been in development for almost seven years. So, if you'd like more information about the famous landscape architect and designer of Park Central Square, click here.

Although the Springfield News-Leader has been reporting there have been some behind the scenes discussions about the interior design renovations of Park Central Square between Springfield City staff and owner of the Heer's building Kevin McGowan, Springfield Director of Public Information Louise Whall said there is not a complete design available.

"The goal is to adapt as many of the original principles as possible into the new design, taking into account the amount of funding available and the need to respect the specific Halprin design elements that contribute to the historical character recognized by the state Historic Preservation Office," Whall wrote in an email.

Whall listed the major goals of renovation to the inner perimeter of the Halprin designed square:

* Taking down the concrete retaining walls that surround the inner perimeter and were not part of Halprin's original design. This would be to improve both accessibility and aesthetics. The retaining walls pose both literal and figurative barriers.

* Rehabbing the gazebo to address structural needs like replacing rotting wood, while maintaining the Halprin design concept

* Rehabbing the fountain, which needs major repairs to its internal waterworks

* Increasing lighting for aesthetic and security reasons

* Adding more built-in electrical capacity to improve its functionality for hosting events in terms of setting up sound and/or lighting systems.

Note: A big THANK YOU to Neva Schroder for calling this important news to the attention of "JackeHammer." JackeHammer wrote extensively about the issue of Halprin's Park Central Square when a local architectural firm announced a design concept which would have destroyed the integrity of the original Halprin design.

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Recommended Reading 17: Park Central Square

What the square needs is maintenence and scheduled programming

A letter to the editor written by Springfield resident Dorothy Thurman to the Springfield News-Leader is recommended reading 17.

Pleasant time down on square

You know, the Lawrence Halprin-designed Park Central Square?

Yeah, that one.

Bait and Switch on Park Central Square?

This is interesting to me and I think it deserves distinction. Today, June 5, 2008, the News-Leader quoted itself from yesterday, June 4, 2008, in its By The Numbers feature:

"The improvements to Park Central Square's sidewalks in Springfield will be paid for with $800,000 in federal highway funds and the city providing $200,000 in matching funds. - Local architects Butler Rosenbury & Partners will be paid $53,700 for the redesign and documents." - News-Leader, June 4

On June 3, 2008, at the City Council luncheon, which took place at Fire Station 12 on Blackman Road, Springfield's Economic Development Director Mary Lilly Smith said a couple of things:

"...being mindful of our contractual obligation on the Heer's building and the fact that we've generated a lot of interest in having something done to the square through our public involvement process, staff's recommendation is that we re-direct the federal funds to what was initially going to be Phase II, to the perimeter sidewalks, the sidewalks right up against the buildings on the square."

That quote, supports the idea that the federal funds will be used for the perimeter sidewalks, but here's the distinction, as found here (and supported by the tape recording of that Tuesday meeting):

"We will need to engage them (Butler Rosenbury & Partners) to do the construction documents for Phase II. We will owe them some more money, yes, because that was not part of our original contract with them. All of these funds though, in talking with federal highway administration, the money that we spent on Phase I...and this new design money will all count as part of our match to the federal money, you know, the federal money was an 80/20 match, 80 percent federal, 20 percent local...." - Economic Development Director Mary Lilly Smith, June 3, 2008

I can't say whether it means anything or not that Phase I money, money used to develop the construction plans for the Halprin designed interior of the square, is being counted as part of the city's match to the federal money but I think it might.

The city appears, in my opinion, to be making an effort to separate these phases into distinct projects so that they might keep open the option of using private donation money to make changes to the Halprin designed interior of Park Central Square without consideration of state and federal preservation organizations.

If part of the city's match money, to qualify for the federal grant, involves concept and construction design plans prepared for the redesign of that portion of the overall project, designed by world renowned landscape architect Lawrence Halprin and eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, it may tie that federal money to the overall project, making that option impossible. It would take someone more knowledgeable of the federal grant process than I to sort that out. I just thought it deserved noting.

Complete Transcript: Economic Development Director Mary Lilly Smith Comments on Park Central Square

From the June 3, 2008, City Council luncheon regarding Council Bill 2008-172.

Council Bill 2008-172

"A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING City staff to proceed with Phase 2 of the design proposal of Butler Rosenbury & Partners, Inc. for the downtown square area."

Smith:

"As you know, we had contract plans done for the redevelopment of the square and it included three different phases. The first phase, what we were calling the first phase, was the interior of the square. The second phase was the perimeter (and) sidewalk, the third phase was a media tower, a canopy and the interior of the square.

"We went through the section 106 process on the interior of the square to get permission to use the federal funds. The State Historic Preservation Office came back with a determination of eligibility, saying, the square was "potentially" eligible for the National Register (editor note: see Park Central Square Eligible for National Register of Historic Places, according to a May 23, news release from the City of Springfield the square is eligible, not "potentially" eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places) and found that our design had an adverse effect on the historic resource, potentially historic resource.

"So, our option at that point, if we were to continue with a project on the interior of the square, would be to enter into a mitigation process with the federal agencies and the consulting parties and to determine how we could continue to, how we could modify, or if we could modify, the design to respect the historic resource or if we wanted to just ignore the historic resource.

"That (mitigation), obviously, will take some time and being mindful of our contractural obligation on the Heer's building and the fact that we've generated a lot of interest in having something done to the square through our public involvement process, staff's recommendation is that we re-direct the federal funds to what was initially going to be Phase II, to the perimeter sidewalks, the sidewalks right up against the buildings on the square. This would include pedestrian lighting, it would include some, potentially, some movement on the exterior curve of the street to get a little bit more space next to the buildings to allow for more outdoor activity.

"We will, what we talked with the federal agencies about, is that we would re-engage the public discussion on the interior square later in the fall and go back to the stake-holders and say, "Okay, now that SHPO (State Historic Preservation Office) has decided, has determined that this is "potentially" eligible for the National Register, (editor's note: again, see City of Springfield News Release) how does that impact the design, you know, and is that something that we need to re-address in the design or how do you want to move forward?"

"We (staff) think it's important, at this point, to move forward with the project on the square. It's federal money obligated, meet our contractural obligation on the Heer's and do the perimeter...."

Question on costs. Had Butler Rosenbury & Partners been paid for Phase II, from Councilman Denny Whayne

Smith:

"No, what, they (Butler Rosenbury & Partners) had done a concept plan that included all three phases but they have not done construction documents on Phase II. We will need to engage them to do the construction documents for Phase II. We will owe them some more money, yes, because that was not part of our original contract with them. All of these funds though, in talking with federal highway administration, the money that we spent on Phase I, which, you know, we may still be able to implement, we're just not going to pursue it at this point in time, but that design money and this new design money will all count as part of our match to the federal money, you know, the federal money was an 80/20 match, 80 percent federal, 20 percent local...."

Question from Deaver regarding compatibility issues. "The thing that has to be compatible is the buildings, themselves, that are around our, the entire area. Have a little bit of discussion about your view of the impact....." - Mayor Pro Tem Deaver

Smith:

"Sure, we actually, when we convened all the agencies in May to talk about the square, we had the State Historic Preservation Office, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), which is where the money comes from, MoDOT, which is where FHWA funnels the money and then, ultimately, it comes to us. We actually spent some time talking about the perimeter of the square and talking about, how do you, what do you try to make your improvements respect? Do they respect the 1970s Halprin interior or do they respect the buildings that, primarily, were built 1900s to 1920, which, if you talk to the historians, what you'll find out is that almost all the buildings around the square were built in that 20 year period and that was a really significant era of development for our community, and in talking with the State Historic Preservation Office, their strong feeling was that we need to be the most respectful of the structures.

"The sidewalk, the pedestrian lining, is going to be up against those structures (the buildings) and that's really the window that they'll be looking at that from, rather than the interior of the square.

"Now, we showed them what we've done elsewhere downtown, with the window pane sidewalks and the pedestrian lights and said, you know, "we'd like to just carry forward with the same design that we've done elsewhere." They felt very comfortable with that.

"Now, we still have to submit, we still have to go back through the 106 process again with this federal money, but we've had all those initial conversations. They've seen, on the ground, what we've got and they said, "We feel like we can give you a finding very quickly of no adverse impact."

Question from Councilman Burlison, unintelligible

Smith:

"Well, actually, what the state has said, and we won't know for sure until they come back, you know, with their actual determination, but they said that they felt like they would probably give us a finding of no adverse impact on our streetscape, conditioned upon a couple of things and those were probably going to be, and this was, you know, just in the conversation stage, those would probably be that we would have to document the last piece of that canopy, you know, we've taken off three of the four quadrants of the canopy, it turns out the canopy was designed by Lawrence Halprin, but this is kind of, you know, from a policy perspective, this is where you get into the real interesting thing, that (canopy) was designed by Halprin, it was part of that whole design of the square which they've said is historic, but because that canopy is attached to these, or sits in front of these 1910, 1920s era buildiings, it actually makes those buildings not eligible for the National Register. So, it's kind of a paradox there, but, they've said we have to document the canopy before we take it down, which, we have to take it down in order to improve the sidewalks, and then, that would make those properties eligible for the National Register. Most of the remainder of the square is on the National Register already.

"The National Register places no restriction at all on property but it makes it eligible for significant tax credits, and so the state has said they may come back and say, "We'll grant you a finding of no adverse impact provided you write a nomination to place the rest of it on the National Register." We don't have that from them yet, but we think, that's kind of the direction we think they're going...."

Question on time line from Councilwoman Mary Collette

Smith:

"We will submit our section 106 review documents, possibly as early as the end of this week, to SHPO. We've been out taking pictures and gathering information, you know, kind of anticipating we would have this action (approval of Bill 2008-172). So, we will submit that, potentially, the end of this week.

"We will also engage Butler Rosenbury to prepare the construction documents for it (Phase II, perimeter of square) so that we could be in a position to bid and we would be, I don't have a date for bidding yet, but we feel like we have just enough time to get everything underway so that we could start construction by August 1st.

"If we need to, we can break the canopy out as a separate contract. We already know what we need to do in order to take that down and that would absolutely be the start of construction on repair of the sidewalks, and we've been working with Kevin McGowan, he thinks that this is a really good solution. He obviously wants the sidewalks in front of his building repaired."

---end transcript---

Council Bill 2008-172 passed unanimously. Councilman Chiles and Councilman Manley were not present for the vote.

My Opinion on Park Central Square and Other Current Issues

It's a rainy, Saturday morning. There's a robin out in the yard, soaking wet, no doubt finding plenty of worms washed up by the rain. The thunder is getting more and more distant and my day is just beginning. In fact, I've only drank half of my first cup of coffee (heh, this was two hours ago, now).

I've checked out the News-Leader already. I read the story about Randy D. Sloan's nudity and how his Attorney defends (the) case('s) dismissal. This hasn't been a story I had been following very closely. Beyond listening to Vincent David Jericho's Podcast of his interview with Greene County Prosecutor Darrell Moore, and sharing a few emails with a fellow blogger friend about it. I think my blogger friend is probably right in his thinking there is more to the story than the original knee-jerk reaction. In cases like this I prefer to see what the courts decide, but certainly there's no denying that a man should not be nude on his front porch around school children, any school children, elementary or otherwise, in fact, a man just shouldn't be nude on his front porch at all.

I noticed that Ron Paul supporters were characterized as cult followers in the leed of another story:

"Ron Paul, the Texas Republican with a cult-like following, will be in Branson on Friday for a 7 p.m. "freedom rally" at the Tri-Lakes Center, according to the schedule on his campaign Web site."

Some Ron Paul supporters may be cult-like in their following of Paul, just as some Obama supporters seem to be cult-like in their following of Obama, but those who don't follow Paul in a cult-like trance will probably be greatly offended by such a blanket statement. I know a few Paul supporters, and no, I'm not among their number, who will feel mischaracterized by that leed, and rightfully so.

The first story I read this morning, however, was Focus now on square perimeter. It was a fair story, not all of the stories and information about the square have been balanced, offering both sides of the issue. There has been an agenda.

At any rate, after writing my own story regarding the provenance of Park Central Square, Square Sinks into Controversy, for the May 7 issue of CFP Midweek, in which I simply tried to present a balanced article on the issue, and, since I have been following this issue closely,I decided it's an appropriate time to share my opinion, if anyone is interested in reading about it.

The first time I saw Butler Rosenbury & Partners proposed design plan for renovations on Park Central Square was at a City Council luncheon, held at Springfield/Branson National Airport. At the time I thought some of the ideas were very nice but my own concerns were addressed by Councilwoman Cindy Rushefsky's query about whether the $1 million promised to be spent on the square renovation would cover all the costs of the many beautiful features Tim Rosenbury had presented. The answer was no, but Rosenbury assured the Council he wouldn't bring something to Council for approval without fleshing out some ideas on how it could be financed and it could be done in phases. So, okay.

Later, I don't even remember the date, Rosenbury showed his presentation at another Council luncheon, you'll find that presentation here. I thought it was great, I really liked it.

Mrs. Ruth Kelley addressed the Council the day Rosenbury presented the final proposed design, at that luncheon. It was shortly after her letter appeared in the News-Leader, (since gone to archive at the News-Leader website, but can still be read here, at The Cultural Landscape Foundation's website).

While I really liked Ruth Kelley's letter, and had even made it a recommended reading at this blog, at that time I was of a mind that if the city just saved Halprin's fountain that would be enough.

Really, at that point, I didn't care that much and thought it was a good idea to renovate the square, I did like the existing square and thought it could have been restored using less money, but I was willing to go along. After all, it was part of the Heer's agreement with McGowan, so it's not like citizens had any choice about whether the money was going to be spent or not and Rosenbury touted there'd been over 750 people to weigh in on the design criteria, on what they'd like to see happen with the square.

By the time the special council meeting was called and the Council approved the design concept I had a little better understanding of who Lawrence Halprin was and I had begun to start having misgivings about the wisdom of paving over (how else would the city level the existing sunken plaza?) Halprin's work. I was thinking, "this could be a great boon to Springfield, this could put us on the map, think of the eclectic, artsy types who might plan their vacations around famous landscape sites, think of how Springfield could promote this! Doesn't Springfield like to think of itself as an artist's mecca? Don't we have First Friday Artwalk Events?"

Yes, I had begun to become a Lawrence Halprin fan and I was also becoming very concerned that the rest of Springfield's citizenry hadn't been properly educated on the provenance of the square and without proper education on what we have, how could an educated decision be made about what we want?

At the February 12, special called, Tuesday morning Council meeting, where the majority of Council approved Rosenbury's design, my opinion is that there was a rush to approve the proposal. I'm not sure how anyone could argue otherwise. The Council's discussion of an email received from Kevin McGowan of Blue Urban, the developer of the Heer's Tower, indicated McGowan was putting some pressure on Council and the Council was very mindful of the August 1 deadline the City had agreed to under contract with McGowan. The contract gave McGowan the option of forcing the city to buy back the Heer's Tower if construction on renovation of the square wasn't begun by that August 1 deadline.

I've silently noted that there are some who would like to characterize those concerned about the provenance of the square as being "obstructionists" against what the majority of Springfieldians want downtown but believing the citizens of Springfield weren't properly apprised of the provenance of that square and the status of Lawrence Halprin's designs while considering what they wanted on the square, I believe that is an unfair characterization. I also noted that someone cast a bit of aspersion on my identification of Partner for Public Spaces as BRP's programming "partner" at another blog, enclosing "partner" in quotation marks, but, for the sake of clarification on that matter, I got that identifier straight out of the mouth of Tim Rosenbury, himself, so I felt very comfortable in using it. That was how Rosenbury described Partner for Public Spaces at the special February 12 Council meeting.

Now, the question in my mind is how could anyone not be exited and thrilled that our public square, Park Central Square, was designed by a famous landscape architect, a world renowned landscape architect!? How can this be considered a bad thing, an awful development!? Why wouldn't ALL of Springfield celebrate such a thing? It makes no sense to me.

I'm ecstatic, yes, I'm celebrating the fact that Lawrence Halprin designed our square and that it has been deemed eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Now all of Springfield knows it. Now real discussions can begin on how to preserve the wonderful asset Springfield has! This is a good thing, how can it be a bad thing? I would also think that every business owner downtown, including Kevin McGowan, would be ecstatic over this wonderful, fantastic news!

Stuart Soloman began the discussion in the May 21 issue of Community Free Press. Be sure and catch his column, "Looking Back to Move Forward," page 7.

Let's look back at what we have, what was planned by Halprin and not implemented, what was lost over the years of the original design (for instance, originally there were stone benches in the park instead of the ugly multiple coated green ones there now, where are those stone benches today?) and then lets move forward and celebrate this fantastic news. We all want what is best for Springfield. It wasn't in the best interest of Springfield to let Park Central Square run down, what about using some money to maintain what we have instead of building things only to let them deteriorate and run down and then bulldoze them under and start over? That would be a good discussion topic for another blog.

Note: I also meant to include another opinion: I, personally, believe Butler Rosenbury & Partners made every effort to point out to the city of Springfield that Lawrence Halprin was a landscape architect of note. The design firm even showed a film spotlighting another Halprin designed park in Oregon. According to Tim Rosenbury, there just wasn't much interest in the provenance of the square on the part of the city.

I had a lovely discussion with Tim Rosenbury back in February and found him to be very forthcoming, honest and direct in responding to my questions and wouldn't want anyone to get the impression that I feel he played a role in dismissing Halprin's relevance. BRP was contracted by the city to offer a design proposal on Park Central Square and, after informing the city of the potential relevance of Halprin's design, he concluded the city had little interest in it and so, he did his job. The design firm of Butler Rosenbury & Partners presented what the city of Springfield had contracted them to present and their firm simply tried their best to please their client.

Park Central Square Decision

Get Councilman Dan Chiles reaction to the news that Park Central Square is eligible for historic listing at Community Free Press - Midweek, here's a tease:

"It turns out that what we have here is like a little teapot on a mantel.You walk past it for 30 years and you never really quite appreciate…you know it’s pretty, so you don’t put it in the garage sale. Then, you take it to one of those Antiques Road Show television shows and they say, "Do you realize that what you have here is of great value?" It gives you a whole new light, a whole new way of appreciating something. You go back and you look at the history of it and how it was made and, once you appreciate something like that, once you understand where it came from, then your esteem for it increases." Councilman Dan Chiles responding to the news that Park Central Square is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Read more...

Park Central Square Eligible for National Register of Historic Places

City of Springfield News Release:

The City of Springfield was notified today that the Missouri State Historic Preservation Office has determined that the inner section of Park Central Square is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and that the proposed undertaking would have an adverse effect on the Square.

The determination was made in response to the City’s Section 106 application to the Federal Highway Administration and to the SHPO for review that is required when federal funds are used for a project such as the proposed renovation of the Square. The eligibility determination does not designate the Square as an historic site, but means it is eligible for such a designation. Federal law requires that federal agencies take into account the impact of their undertakings on properties listed or eligible for listing in the National Register. The SHPO stated that the Square is eligible in the area of Landscape Architecture and is significant for its association with noted landscape designer Lawrence Halprin.

FHWA concurrence with the Determination of Eligibility means that the City would have to work with SHPO, FHWA and other interested parties on mutually agreeable ways to mitigate any potential adverse impact the renovation would have on elements of the Square determined to be eligible for historic designation. There are a variety of ways in which mitigation could take place, such as documenting the current design or preserving historic elements of the current design. FHWA has the final decision on any mitigation measures.

The City believes the mitigation process can’t be completed in time to meet contractual deadlines related to Blue Urban’s renovation of the Heer’s Tower. Therefore, the City will quickly begin discussions with stakeholders about moving forward on Phase II of the renovation project instead of Phase I.

The Phase II renovations noted in the new design plan involve sidewalk improvements, new lighting and potentially narrowing the existing roadway around the perimeter of the Square. This phase of renovations could enlarge the outer perimeter to allow more room for activities like outdoor dining, an outdoor reading area for the Park Central Library Branch and other potential uses by property owners such as Blue Urban and Missouri State University.

The City has consulted with the SHPO and the office has indicated that it will likely be able to complete review of the outer-perimeter renovations to permit construction to start on the project in a timely manner. The federal funding for the project applied to the Square as a whole, so moving ahead on the outer perimeter is consistent with the grant funding.

“The inner Square is a higher-profile part of the project and it elicited the most feedback about changes people would like to see to make the Square more inviting and user friendly,” said Rusty Worley, executive director of Urban Districts Alliance, which coordinated the public-input process for the Square renovation. “However, the outer Square renovation is clearly a high priority and offers immediate benefits to the Library, Heer's, Missouri State University, and the sidewalk cafes.”

If there is consensus among stakeholders and the City Council to move forward on the outer perimeter, City staff and the design team will aggressively move forward on final design and construction documents to try to meet the Aug. 1 contract obligation for the Square renovation to begin. The City also has been consulting about the process with Blue Urban developer Kevin McGowan, who has expressed his support for this alternate plan.

After steps are in place to meet the contractual obligation, the City will revisit the issues associated with the inner Square and re-open the public-input process.

Recommended Reading 13: Park Central Square

The Community Free Press - Midweek has the most in depth coverage on Park Central Square:

See: CFP Exclusive: City Holds Meeting on Square's Historic Designation

Read the Cultural Landscape Foundation's response to the State Historic Preservation Office and the email answer from Bob Cumley regarding Councilman Dan Chiles questions about the square, including the City Manager's update on the square's section 106 status from May 6, 2008.

There are also other important and informative links at CFP's website regarding the square and the section 106 process.

More: From the News-Leader, Square renovation plans in hands of state agency

Park Central Square Provenance

No claim was made that City told Tim Rosenbury of Butler Rosenbury & Partners, Inc. not to research famous landscape designer Lawrence Halprin's involvement in design of Park Central Square

At another local blog, a quote from Charles A. Birnbaum, president of the Cultural Landmark Foundation, was discussed and responded to by local architect Tim Rosenbury, of Butler Rosenbury & Partners. For a refresher, here is the direct quote from Mr. Birnbaum as published in the Community Free Press and at this blog:

“In my conversation with Tim Rosenbury back in early February, he noted that, in his initial presentation to the city, his firm raised the question of Mr. Halprin’s involvement. Rosenbury noted that the city suggested provenance was not a significant consideration and he was dissuaded from researching any Halprin involvement.”

A question posed by the local blogger led Mr. Rosenbury to make a statement that nobody from the city had told him to NOT look into the provenance of the square as relates to famous architect Lawrence Halprin, so I felt it was my duty to point out, as the writer of the article to which the blogger referred, that Mr. Birnbaum never made the claim that the city HAD told him not to look into Mr. Halprin's involvement or the significance of his role in the design of the square.

Mr. Birnbaum never made the suggestion that anyone from the city of Springfield had told Rosenbury or his design firm not to look into Halprin's involvement in Park Central Square's design and neither did CFP.

Rosenbury clearly let the city know that Halprin's involvement may be of some significance:

At the special Council meeting in February, Rosenbury told the Council, “…during the presentation that we made to the selection committee we had a slide of another square that Halprin designed in Portland and we made the point that that may be of some significance.”

In a strawman sort of way, Rosenbury's answer could be interpreted that Mr. Birnbaum had said that Rosenbury had told him someone from the city expressly told him not to research any Halprin involvement, possibly giving the impression that Birnbaum was lying, but that is not what the president of the Cultural Landscape Foundation said at all .

Mr. Birnbaum stated that Rosenbury told him "he was dissuaded from researching any Halprin involvement."

My interpretation (assumption) would be that the lack of interest on the part of the city in the provenance of the square was enough to dissuade Rosenbury from further research regarding Halprin's involvement in the square design, but Birnbaum didn't expressly indicate why Rosenbury was dissuaded, therefore we don't really know why he and his firm were dissuaded from further research on Halprin involvement and the blogger didn't bother to ask that question.

For clarification, the question CFP asked was:

Did Springfield Consider Provenance of Park Central Square Before Acting?

I'm not sure we have yet received a clear answer to that question. Mr. Birnbaum claimed: "Rosenbury noted that the city suggested provenance was not a significant consideration," and that is all that Mr. Birnbaum claimed to know about the city's interest in the provenance of the square as reported in CFP.

McGowan promises to redevelop the Heers

So, what's the rush on Park Central Square?

I received an email today that alledged Mr. Charles Birnbaum, Founder of The Cultural Landscape Foundation, left an online comment at the News-Leader that was not published. I checked the most current articles regarding Park Central Square, but I did not see it there. It was sent to me by an associate of Mr. Birnbaum's who is also a representative of The Cultural Landscape Foundation, the associate wrote, "he entered it on the blog site as a response," so, if it has been published somewhere at the News-Leader, my apologies for overlooking it :

I am entertained at the casual dismissals of Lawrence Halprin's work at Park Central [published on the News-Leader website]. I wonder if your bloggers have spent time in the Halprin collection at the University of Pennsylvania. I have... and I can tell you that the rich material includes revealing sketches in Halprin's hand, the contract that he signed, communications with city employees, the consulting sculptor, and other ephemera generated by his office. Do you think that every building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright was designed by him beyond the concept sketches? For example, architect Robert A.M. Stern today has over two hundred employees. Halprin's office, like many successful practices had talented designers -- Perhaps instead of looking for reasons to justify current ill-conceived proposals, conjectural bloggers may want to go visit the archives at Penn as a starting point. - Charles Birnbaum, The Cultural Landscape Foundation

Considering Mr. McGowan has promised to follow through on his redevelopment plans of the Heer's Tower, is there any reason the community can't just sit back, patiently, and wait to see whether the Park Central Square's new design plan needs to be adapted to preserve Halprin's work?

My understanding was that the real concern was that Kevin McGowan might exercise his put option and force the city to buy back the Heer's building if the city didn't break ground on Butler Rosenbury Partner's new design by August 1. Is there any reason to be upset that we let the redevelopment of the square go through the legal procedures required by the city's use of federal funds on the project now that we understand McGowan has no plans to exercise his put option?

In other words, what's the rush NOW!? Geesh.


From TCLF's website:

"The Cultural Landscape Foundation is the only not-for-profit foundation in America dedicated to increasing the public’s awareness of the importance and irreplaceable legacy of cultural landscapes. Through education, technical assistance, and outreach, the Cultural Landscape Foundation broadens the support and understanding for cultural landscapes nationwide in hopes of saving our priceless heritage for future generations"

Will McGowan Carry the City's Heer's Deal Baton?

Darin Bridges of Springfield had a reader letter in the News-Leader today: Relay incident memorable, in which he recounts dropping the baton (he's writing as though to Coach Vaughan, who was recently honored at the dedication at Shumate Stadium):

"It was the All-City Meet. Our (Hillcrest) mile relay team was favored to take the gold or at least the silver. I was your lead-off guy, and during my fourth stride out of the blocks I dropped the baton. It tumbled all the way to the edge of the track. It was awful....

You called us all together in the middle of the field and we could tell you were fuming. You then yelled for the equipment manager, "Let me see that baton!" It scared the poor kid to death. For a moment I was afraid you might beat me with it. Instead you threw it on the ground and stomped on it. Right there in the middle of JFK. You then picked it up, looked at it, and scolded something like, "I never want to see another one of these NEW batons in the hands of one of my track members again! Do you hear me?" Then you yelled at the other coaches, "Look at how light these aluminum batons are! My boys have been practicing with nothing but steel and on the day of the race we put this #$&! in their hands?!"...

Yeah, the baton was new, lighter aluminum, but we all knew that had nothing to do (with) my dropping it. We knew exactly what you were up to, but no one ever brought the subject up again. We simply moved on to the next race. (Emphasis mine)

The strategy and timing of your demonstration was pure genius. You could have "called-me-out" for such a bone-headed move, but you knew that would hurt our team, and I think you knew what it would do to me...."

I have a purpose for bringing up Mr. Bridges' sports story. I want to apply it to the City of Springfield regarding Park Central Square. Wes Johnson's story in the News-Leader seems a bit like grasping at straws to me, I mean, I'm being honest here.

In Back to square one? Johnson puts forth the challenge of whether Lawrence Halprin can be considered the designer of the square when another architect working in Halprin's firm was responsible for the majority of the architectural drawings. Well, that would be akin to saying that an architect hired by Butler Rosenbury to do work for Butler Rosenbury under the Butler Rosenbury stamp and seal isn't really Butler Rosenbury. It's quite a stretch but I appreciate the sentiment.

I noticed Vincent David Jericho was asking if those who wanted to see Halprin's work preserved could be blamed for a Heer's deal bail out by McGowan's exercise of their put option if the square renovation wasn't on schedule (as specified in their contract on the Heer's with the city) due to the question of the historic value of the square. Well, I don't really think so, these matters should have been considered long ago, before the contract with Kevin McGowan included the stipulation that the square would be remodeled by a certain date, actually, it should have been considered more critically whether it was a good decision for the city to take possession of the Heer's Tower way back when, but we are where we are and sometimes the best thing to do is to take our frustrations out on the aluminum baton rather than the player(s) responsible for the fumble.

Sometimes the best thing to do is to build up the team. I don't disagree with that but I also think that honesty, honesty from the start to the finish, is the best policy. The coach facilitated a "face" save for a young high school team player. It'd be nice if Wes Johnson could facilitate a "face" save through his article, or, if Butler Rosenbury, by stretching to suggest that a signed and sealed Lawrence Halprin design wasn't really a Halprin design because someone else in his firm drew the plans, could pull the city out of this mess but let's not forget that the high school boys on the team, including and especially the young man that dropped the baton knew what the coach was really doing. Our collective intelligence demands it.

We all want to be good team players. We all want the best for Springfield, Missouri and we all understand that we cannot afford to own the Heer's Tower anymore but this bed has been made and it'll be played out and City staff and City Council aren't high school age students dropping a baton at a sporting event. Still...the best thing for Springfield is that Kevin McGowan not exercise his put option even if the play turns out to have been made poorly. We'll just have to see how it comes out and hope that it turns out well in the end. A lot of it depends on Mr. McGowan, will he be a team player? Will he stomp on the baton or will he take his ball and go home? I remember McGowan making comment before the City Council at the public hearing of the Heer's deal on August 27, 2007:

"We're committed to this project and we're committed because we've formed some relationships here in Springfield. We're very much looking forward to get going...."

He said he was committed to renovating the Heer's Tower. Now would be the time to hope he meant it.

Park Central Square

We haven't heard the last of it.

After the Council luncheon today I mentioned to Councilman Chiles that I was sorry I didn't get to speak to him about the Park Central Square issue as it relates to Lawrence Halprin's design (he didn't return my call after I tagged him the second time) and he mentioned back that we haven't heard the last of this issue. I agreed with him and here's why. I realize I'm not the one to break this news, I got the link to this updated version from an online letter at the News-Leader, though I had knowledge of their involvement before the Special Council meeting called February 12.

The Cultural Landscape Foundation is suggesting that you can help by sending a letter requesting full consideration of the Lawrence Halprin design to:

The Springfield City Council

Springfield Landmarks Board

Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation

The Springfield News-Leader print editor

The Springfield News-Leader on-line editor

Missouri State Historic Preservation Office

Recommended Reading 5

Landslide: Park Central Square, Springfield, MO/ The Cultural Landscape Foundation

On December 15, 2007, Mrs. Ruth Kelley, a long-time property and business owner in downtown Springfield, Missouri, wrote a letter which appeared in the local newspaper, the New Leader. In that communication, she asked the city council to reconsider the proposed reconfiguration of the Park Central Square, in downtown Springfield....

We were intrigued with this undocumented early public project by Halprin – a design that does not appear in any of the early surveys (e.g. Process Architecture No. 4: Lawrence Halprin, 1978.) ....

You can read Ruth Kelley's comments at the link.

Here is what Lawrence Halprin had to say about Park Central Square:

"This work came after the firm was already consulting in Missouri (referencing the Civic Center Master Plan for Kansas City of 1966). The design for Springfield came about as shopping malls such as Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, MN, were gaining popularity. These public spaces were also becoming cultural centers, with art becoming widely incorporated. The fountain at Springfield was meant to present abstraction and it had a lot to do with design. Architect Charles Moore [who had worked with Halprin on Lovejoy just a few years earlier with Moore & Turnbull as associated architects] likely influenced the Pavilion design, including its clipped corners."

For a look at some other threatened designs of Halprin:

LANDSLIDE /Three Invisible Modernist Designs by Lawrence Halprin

These landscapes suffer from poor maintenance that has led to demolition/redesign proposals at these sites.