Celebrating Cultural Landscapes: Beardsley Park

The chapter is pleased to announce that this will be a live event (non-webinar) in accordance with Bridgeport Parks and Recreation guidelines. Attendees must be fully-vaccinated and adhere to wearing a mask during the full duration of the program. Registration information will be used for contact tracing purposes if necessary. We will limit the audience to not more than 40 people to allow for adequate social distancing during walking portions of the tour.

As part of the upcoming Olmsted 200 celebrations, the chapter will be hosting a cultural landscape tour of Beardsley Park in Bridgeport. Join landscape architect Phil Barlow as well as staff from the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) as we walk the grounds and learn how the Olmstedian vision for the park developed, how changes in public programming have altered the design. and how City and State stewards are working to protect the integrity of this cultural landscape.

As part of the tour, attendees will be among the first members of the public to experience a new monument of Frederick Law Olmsted slated for installation this fall. Brief remarks from the CT DOT commissioner, SHPO staff, and other dignitaries will commemorate the occasion.

Presenters:

Phil Barlow is Principal-in-Charge of projects for To Design in New Britain.With a keen insight into the design and use of public spaces, Phil leads the schematic design effort and is responsible for quality control. Growing up in West Virginia, far from any major cities, sparked his fascination with the urban environment and led to his professional focus.

Phil’s work has received many awards from CTASLA, AIACT, The CT Trust for Historic Preservation, APACT, and the Hartford Preservation Alliance, among others. He is a recipient of the CT ASLA’ s Yarwood Award (for service to the profession), and serves on CT's Board of Landscape Architects and the Connecticut State Historic Preservation Review Commission. His work has been featured in numerous publications, including the Hartford Courant, the New Britain Herald, and Landscape Architect and Specifier News. His op-ed articles on design and the built environment are regularly printed in the Hartford Courant.

Monument ceremony remarks will be delivered by several speakers.

Commissioner Joseph Giulietti (CT DOT)

Mayor Joseph Ganim (City of Bridgeport)

Jen Scofield and Todd Levine (SHPO)

Oliver Gaffney (CT Chapter of ASLA)

Learning Objectives:

Upon attending this program, attendees will be able to:

1. Define the criteria for identifying cultural landscapes.
2. Explain the role of the State Historic Preservation Office in conserving and enriching public landscapes.
3. Describe mitigation and adaptation strategies for protecting elements of cultural landscapes.
4. Apply principles of landscape architectural design towards implementation of cultural landscape preservation plans.

This program is approved for 1.0 hours of LA CES HSW credits appropriate for landscape architects.