At a Glance
Informed by ecology, a downtown park expansion enhances the quality of life within and downstream of a Front Range community.
Project Description
Located along Colorado’s Front Range and surrounded by majestic buttes and ridgelines, the town of Castle Rock is known for its vibrant small-town character and scenic vistas. These qualities are supported by the town’s many trails, open spaces, and parks with creeks and gulches that wind through its landscape. Festival Park, one park centerpiece, is a hub for numerous community events, festivals and farmers’ markets. When the town sought to expand the park to better serve its growing population and expanding lineup of events, they wanted to do so in a way that would align with a cornerstone of a recently revised master plan: responsible growth.
As an ecological consultant on a collaborative design team led by Design Workshop, Biohabitats performed the wetland delineation and ecological assessment to determine any potential impacts and assisted with the integration of an existing creek and green infrastructure into the park design to manage stormwater, enhance wildlife habitat and improve wetland ecology.
The project earned a 2018 Merit Award for Design from the American Society of Landscape Architects and the 2018 Best Project Award from ENR Mountain States in the Landscape/Urban Development category.